The Last Shard
by O-nimode
Summary: It's all over, Naraku has the last jewel shard, and will destroy us all...BUT WAIT! What is this? There's still one more jewel shard to go! But what happens when the possessor of that shard is a young girl with a big heart? NarakuxOC, Please R&R.
1. Chapter 1: Discovery and Prophecy

**NOTE:** Hey everyone! ^^ So I'll just dive right into it; this story picks up right towards the end of episode 20 of _Kanketsu-Hen_(The Final Act). Naraku's got the last jewel shard from Kohaku..._or does he?_

I don't own InuYasha or anything like that, so please don't sue me. Please R&R.

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_At last, at long last the Shikon no Tama is complete..._ Naraku thought as the tiny little piece that he went through such effort for slid into place. The two pieces melded together smoothly, creating one perfect... fragment. At first he thought his eyes were deceiving him; he grabbed the jewel and pulled it closer for inspection. But there it was, plain as day; a tiny, infinitesimal dip in the surface, indicating that there was still one insignificant shard to go.

"No..._No! Dammit!_" Naraku cursed at the cloudy sky above him. After so long, so painfully long, there was still one blasted shard to find? Then he took a deep breath, and relaxed. All was still well, things would simply have to be postponed, plans rearranged. Magatsuhi and Byakuya would be in his service for a bit longer. He can just keep Rin prisoner at his castle. All was well. He looked down to where he knew InuYasha and his worthless friends were, probably mourning over the death of Kohaku. Normally he would've flown a bit closer to mess with them, show them how utterly powerless they were in comparison to him, but he didn't feel like it anymore. He had to work to do.

He turned North-East. He'd been hearing rumors of a demon oracle from that direction; it was said she was all-knowing, and unlike other oracles, was actually pretty straightforward with her fortunes. Yumi, her name was. He smirked to himself, his miasma cloud hurrying him towards his destination. All was well.

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"You can't be serious Kagome," InuYasha commented, exasperated. They were heading back to the village, after a bit of a temper tantrum, crying, and the surprising resurrection of Kohaku.

"My powers might not be as strong as they once were, but I'm almost positive; there's no way the Shikon no Tama is complete," Kagome confirmed.

"But we saw Naraku take the last shard from Kohaku," Sango contradicted.

"I'm not sure that was the last shard... when I thought about it, Kohaku's shard didn't look big enough to be the very last piece."

"So, what, there's still one more shard to find?" InuYasha said. Kagome nodded. "Well alright, this means we've still got plenty of time to defeat Naraku! Not only that, but if we get our hands on the last jewel shard before him, then we've got the upper-hand!"

"This is great! God has finally smiled down on us, it's giving us the chance to rid the world of him without too much bloodshed," Kohaku cheered.

"Let's go tell the others, they'll be so excited!" Kagome agreed, urging InuYasha and Kirara to move faster in the shared euphoria. Euphoria that soon vanished when they arrived, and learned that Rin had been kidnapped, and that Magatsuhi was still alive.

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The morning light shone on the mountain, lighting up all except a cave. Such a truly dark and plain cave it was, sitting there on the side of the mountain like an uninvited guest to a party. It didn't belong among all the forestry that surrounded it.

_And technically speaking, neither do I,_ Naraku mused as he walked towards the cave. His orders to his henchmen had been very simple; lock the brat up in the dungeons in his castle, and keep everything in order for his return. His demonic eyes only took a second to adjust to the sudden shift of light. The cave grew gradually more moist as he walked, drops of water falling and making echoes here and there. Eventually he spotted a light at the end of the tunnel, and he picked up the pace. Strings of multi-colored beads hung from the ceiling, rustling as he brushed them aside.

Soon he reached the lair of Yumi the Demon Oracle, which was sparsely furnished. A dirty bedroll sat over by the far wall, a box full of fabric next to that, and another smaller box next to that, whose lid hid its contents. There was a fire burning happily in the center, lighting up the cave and throwing everything in sharp relief. A figure sat in front of the fire, completely hidden in layers upon layers of ragged feathers.

"Are you Yumi the Demon Oracle?" Naraku asked.

The figure shifted a little before speaking in a raspy, squawking voice. "Aye...and ye be the infamous Naraku."

"I need your help."

"I know what ye need...informashin on the last jewel shard of the cursed Shikon no Tama. However, I require payment..."

"Name your price," Naraku encouraged. Nothing was going to stand in his way, certainly not a silly thing like finances.

"In a years time, if ye have made the right decision, I want ye to reward me with a rather...special position, one that I hope ye'll trust me with."

He stared. "The right decision? Special position? What do you mean?"

"Heh heh, the decision that leads on to yer happiness of course. When the time comes, ye'll know which position I mean," she chuckled darkly. "Do I have yer word?"

"...Fine," he agreed slowly.

"Good, good...I suppose ye be wantin' yer fortune now?"

"It's why I'm here."

Another chuckle. "Ah youth...so impatient." Then she looked deeply into the flames, sitting up a little bit straighter. A change seemed to come over the atmosphere of the cave, like a draft had appeared, making the vast amount of beads clink against each other. The fire grew, crackling for fuel. "I see..." she began, her voice suddenly deep and haunting. "A girl... a small girl, with dark brown hair. A strange one, she isn't like many others...It is she, she who holds the final jewel shard."

"Where can I find her?"

"In two days time...she will be here, in this land...search for her in the south. Search for the one dressed as strangely as the Reincarnated Miko..."

_Someone from the Miko's world?_ Naraku's interest had finally been peaked. He'd seen the things that some of the items the Miko carried with her from her world could do. Obviously it was quite a magical and powerful society.

"Ye cannot simply take the shard from her, I should warn ye," Yumi said suddenly.

"I'm sorry, what?" He'd been too distracted with his own thoughts.

"This shard...it is interwoven into this girls being that it cannot be easily taken, or at least not in the manner ye'd suspect," she explained.

"Then how do I get the shard?"

"Be kind to her. If ye are kind to her, then she will be much more willingly to give you the shard. But be wary, it will take a great amount of trust for her to do so, are ye prepared?"

"Anything for the jewel shard." Actually, this was perfect. If he could convince the girl to give him the shard, then maybe she'd also be willing to supply him with some of the tools and weapons of her land.

"Then hurry...hurry away now! _Go!_" As she shouted the last word, the fire went out like a light. Darkness consumed the expanse. Without another word, Naraku turned and left.

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Myouga stepped out from the cave a minute or two after Naraku had. He'd actually been there the whole time, visiting Yumi, for they had known each other in the past. He had smelled Naraku coming, and in a panic had leaped into the many ruffles of feathers that Yumi had taken to wearing when she'd chosen her vocation. The rancid odor of the forever filthy feathers had shielded his own scent quite well. Now armed with this knowledge of the final jewel shard, he hurried off to where he knew Kaede's village was. He had to warn InuYasha. When the time came, they would all be on the same level with each other.

Except of course the unsuspecting girl, whose normal life was about to change, very soon.

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On a side note, I'd like to apologize for my primitive method for separating bits of text; I'm new here and not quite sure yet as to how to get all the tools to work the way I want them to. ^^;


	2. Chapter 2: Through the Rabbit Hole

**NOTE:** Just to prevent any confusion, I thought I should clarify that when I do this (0-0-0), it means I'm switching points of view. When I do this (-0-0-), it means I'm skipping ahead of time. Moving on now. ^^

I don't own InuYasha, but I do own Aiko, so please don't steal her. Please R&R.

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Aiko looked with disinterest at the scenery around her. She didn't pay attention to the old man giving them a tour of the Higurashi shrine. The attempts by her parents to solidify family bonds was cute and all, but she wasn't really into it.

"...and over there is what's historically known as the Bone-Eater's Well," the old man mentioned, gesturing towards a little shed. Aiko's hearing pricked up at that. "It is said that when you throw a demon's corpse down there, the bones will disappear. And that over there is the Goshinboku..." and his voice faded back out. She didn't care about the rest, she just wanted a closer look at that well. Hanging back, she looked once around her before sauntering over to the shed. The door slid open with ease, revealing a dark and dusty place that led down to a simple square well. She closed the door behind her.

Treading lightly she walked down, down, right to the edge. She leaned over and analyzed the pitch-black hole. "Tch, and demon's bones were supposedly eaten up here?" she mused. Then something caught her eye, so she leaned in a little closer for a better look. "Oh snap, is that actually a bone?" It was white and small, but she couldn't really tell from this distance. All of a sudden, the shed felt very creepy and foreboding. No sunlight could reach in that dark place. There was a slight whistling of wind that circled her, like there was a draft somewhere.

She just about to stand up straight and join her parents again, when something brushed up against her leg. She jumped about a mile high in the air, and fell straight back down, down, into the well. She screamed the whole way down, and the last thing she saw for the moment was the face of a fat cat she'd seen lingering around earlier. She screwed her eyes shut, bracing herself for the undoubtedly painful landing...only it didn't come.

She opened her eyes again, to see a blue world. Looking around it was like she was slow-falling through space. "What...the hell..." And then dirt and earth started to appear, like she was falling up. _Falling up?_ she wondered. _Damn, my friend was right! Physics __is__ worthless!_ She chuckled to herself, remembering how her friend had described physics; it's like you grab your physics textbook and throw it out the window, it falls _up_, you shake your head and say, "Worthless."

When the blue light disappeared, she was forced to look around. She was at the bottom of the well. "Amazing, I didn't die." Aiko looked up at the top of the well, and realized something that chilled her blood; there was a sky above her head. But wasn't the well in a shed? Spotting a ladder on the side(why was there a ladder?) she climbed up until her head popped over the wooden edge to spy on the world. Was it still her world though? Just five seconds ago she'd been in the middle of over-crowding bloody-frickin' Tokyo, and now the closest thing to the roar of car engines was the call of birdsong that chittered from every end of the unfamiliar woods that closed in around her.

"Ah, maybe, if I jump back down, things will go back to normal?" She tried it. A small cloud of dirt floated up around her sneakers as a direct result from her landing on firm ground. "What? But it was working just a second ago!" She jumped up and down on the spot, punched the ground five times, then gave a small scream of frustration. Moving her glasses out of the way, she pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Ok, no need to panic," she began, preparing to give herself a pep talk. "All is still well. Hopefully there's some form of civilization nearby. And if not, you're bound to come across a river which you can just live alongside until you figure out how to get back through the well. All is well. You will survive, for you are a survivor. Yeah, guts, go for it!" Thus invigorated, she leaped up and climbed back out of the well.

"I've got a feeling that help and good people are right around the corner, I just know it!" With that she turned on heel and marched in the exact opposite direction from Kaede's village.

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"You think she'll like us, Kagome?" Shippo asked innocently, looking up at the young girl as she organized her bag. She'd come back from a short break back in her time just an hour before Aiko had arrived.

"What's not to like? I'd like to see Naraku try and be nice!" she reassured.

"Don't forget Kagome, Naraku is more than likely to simply use mind control on the poor girl," Miroku reminded.

"I just hope we can get to her before he has a chance to manipulate her like he did Kohaku," Sango piped up. The boy in question had set off ahead of them, searching the far south.

"Hey, unless you slowpokes want Naraku to get that shard, get your asses' in gear!" InuYasha yelled at them from outside the hut.

"InuYasha, I hope you don't intend to act that way towards the girl. Remember what Yumi said, you have to be nice to her, or you won't get the jewel shard," Myouga chastised.

"Myouga, I notice you're joining us this time. You must be feeling confident about this," Kagome commented.

"Indeed. We're all far more respectable than Naraku, and we've already sent out Kohaku ahead of time to help find her before him."

"Well let's go then," Miroku said, and all got up and followed him out.

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At the moment, Naraku was walking around his castle, perfectly at ease. He had sent out dozens of his Saimyosho all over the southern part of Japan in search of the girl. He had given them as detailed a description of the girl as he could, and so far there had been no sign of her. That is, until one of them suddenly buzzed right up toward him.

"Have you found her?" he asked the insect.

"Bzz, bzzbzz bz bzzbzz," the hell-wasp told him. Naraku nodded once in understanding before following the Saimyosho up into the sky and towards the south-east. Eventually, the bug stopped in the sights of a rest home sitting near a fork in the road. Sure enough, there was a brunette sitting there in clothes just as strange, if not stranger than the kind the Reincarnated Miko wore. Everything about the girl seemed to say 'small'. She was a short, her nose was small, and her chest was small. The only thing that wasn't small were her eyes. They were big and round. Sparkly, even if they were framed behind a pair of glasses.

"Thank you, your work here is done," Naraku told the Saimyosho before floating down to the ground. Didn't want to scare the jewel shard away. That in mind, he also made the 'scary' bits of his armor disappear for the time being, leaving him with his outer haori and obi over his usual get-up. Thus presentable, he walked to the road and casually approached the girl. Currently, she was staring off into the distance, popping little red orbs into her mouth. He walked right up next to her, but she didn't react until he cleared his throat.

"Hmm? Oh, hello." She gave him a little bow from where she sat.

Ignoring the display of disrespect, he inclined his head to her. "Hello, I am known as Lord Naraku," he introduced.

"Lord..." she murmured to herself. She stood up and gave him a proper bow before sitting back down.

_That's more like it,_ Naraku thought. "Tell me, by what are you known as?"

"Oh I'm just simple ol' Aiko Jigoku-supon," she informed, shrugging. He raised his eyebrows at the contradictory name. "Yeah I get that reaction a lot."

"Yes, well, that can't honestly be your meal there, is it?" Naraku switched subjects, pointing at the bag of red orbs.

"Admittedly, it isn't much, but it'll get me by until I find a good river to live off of," she defended. "On the bright side, these things are freaking delicious."

"Oh really?"

"Try one." She offered him one of the orbs. Trying to keep a look of distaste off his face, he accepted it. Normally he would have placed it in his pocket to throw away later, but damned all if she wasn't looking up at him so expectantly it felt like her life depended on him eating it right then and there.

_Hmph, might as well humor her, it'll be worth it in the end._ He slipped it into his mouth. His eyes snapped wide when suddenly a burst of sweet-sour flavor exploded on his tongue, when the orbs hard surface suddenly turned chewy and sticky under the ministrations of his teeth.

"It's good, right?" Aiko's question brought his attention back to her. Now she was smiling up at him, like he had done something to be proud about.

"Nonetheless, this isn't a meal," Naraku relented, making the girl giggle. "If we went back to my castle, I would have my chefs prepare the most delicious meal you've ever had in your entire life. Will you join me?" All of a sudden, those big, expressive hazel eyes went serious, and her smile vanished. She seemed to be deeply contemplating what he just said. _Is she on to me?_

Then she smiled, though it didn't match up to her eyes like before. "Certainly. Who am I to turn down such a generous offer by a lord of the land? Why don't we walk there, that way we can get to know each other." Naraku sensed an ulterior motive behind that decision, but at the moment he didn't mind. Probably she was suspicious of him, which simply confirmed that she had a jewel shard. If he was in her position, the only benefit he could see from walking all the way to some unknown place was that it would provide many opportunities to run should the need arise. Which wouldn't work against him, of course.

Smiling back at her, he offered his arm, which she took. Things were working slowly, but at least they were working. If he could get her to trust him a little bit more, then he'd be able to use a faster means of transportation. What ended up happening is the both of them asking each other a lot of questions. Aiko seemed to answer hers honestly, revealing that she didn't really like tea, among a few other things. Naraku, meanwhile, told her the kind of answers that would put a person at ease, and a few truthful ones. Things were working. Until a familiar, annoying scent hit the air, accompanied by a voice shouting.

As if in slow motion, Naraku turned and saw the WindScar heading straight for him and Aiko. Thinking fast he grabbed her with his extra appendages and pulled her close before throwing up a barrier. They weren't a second too soon. The attack roared past and over the two of them, before leaving smoking trails in the Earth.

"Wha...what..." Aiko said shakily below him, her eyes wide and fearful. Growling, Naraku looked up at his arch-nemesis's; InuYasha and his gang.

The main bastard in question raised his damned sword Tessaiga and pointed it at Naraku. "Let her go!"

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Ooooh, how exciting! ^^ I contemplated having this chapter include the confrontation, but I decided to save that for next chapter and tease you all. ;P Until next time!

Also, to let you all in on the joke, Aiko means "child of love", while Jigoku-supon means "hell-spawn". Get it? :D


	3. Chapter 3: Shikon no Whata?

**NOTE:**

Rumiko Takahashi: "I own InuYasha!"

Me: "And I own Aiko!"

Both: "We don't steal from each other, we don't steal from you, so don't you steal from us!"

Please R&R.

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Aiko stared at the newly arrived group, trying to process what was going on. One minute she was walking alongside Naraku and having a pleasant conversation, the next there's these blinding streaks of light going by her and evaporating the ground!

"What...the..._hell?_" She yelled the last word, her fire returning once her mind had selected the appropriate reaction. "The flying flip is _wrong_ with you people? You could've killed us!" They stared at her, as if completely shocked she was reacting this way. "Don't look so surprised! Didn't you think I'd be pissed in the face of a near-death experience?" She started to stand up straight, planning to huff and stalk away, when she realized something was holding her against Naraku, and that Naraku was suddenly a lot harder than she would've ever imagined. She looked down and noted with disgust that there was a set of tentacles holding her in place. She twisted her head around and saw that Naraku was now wearing some pretty bitching armor that certainly wasn't there before.

She twisted her head all the way up to get a good look at his face. "What are you?"

He stared coldly into her eyes, living up to the impression that he was made of ice that she got the second she saw him. Then he smiled at her, like he did before. And like before it was a cruel, heartless sort of smile, the kind that brought Aiko no comfort. "I'm a demon. I didn't tell you before because I was trying to hide my identity so that I wouldn't be attacked by the vagabonds you see before us. Unfortunately it didn't work, so now in order to keep you safe, we must fly away."

"Fly?" She looked back down at the ground. They were steadily starting to float upwards. _Just like a physics textbook..._ she marveled. "Alright, that's enough of crazy town for me today. Put me down so that I may find the nearest rock, and repeatedly bash my head against it."

She felt him chuckle against her. "I'm afraid, that isn't really your decision..."

"HEY!" Both of their heads snapped down to the source of the noise. It was the white-haired guy in the red clothing wielding the giant sword. "Don't you think we're gonna let you _get away!_" As he said this he leaped into the air, his sword turning red, swinging at the two.

"What do you think you're doing!" Aiko shouted at him, just before the sword struck something which flashed into visibility in the form of a transparent orb that enclosed her and Naraku. "What..." The weirdo struck again, and this time his strike rang true and sliced through the orb.

"Hiraikotsu!" a female voice shouted, and suddenly Aiko's eyes were fixed on an enormous boomerang getting closer and closer...

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Naraku gave a little growl, simply throwing out more tentacles to deflect and take the blow while he moved out of the way.

"Hey, you." Naraku looked down with irritation at the girl. While he had been pleasantly surprised at her shouting at InuYasha and his friends, she was starting to grate on his nerves. "What the hell did you mean when you said it wasn't my decision to leave?"

He dodged a sacred arrow, and sent some Saimyosho out to deter the monk. "Well, if you'd simply give me the jewel shard, I'd let you go." She stared at him.

"Don't listen to him!" Naraku's head snapped back to look at the miko. "He's evil, if you give him the jewel shard, he'll just kill you!" Naraku snarled and shot a tentacle at her, only for it to be cut off by the hanyou.

"...What jewel shard?" Everything froze. Even the Saimyosho tried to cut back on the buzzing in reaction to those three words spoken by the girl the oracle had spoken of.

"...The jewel shard of the Shikon no Tama. Don't lie, we already know you have it..." Naraku said smoothly, trying to keep things in his control.

"Shikon no what-a? I'm sorry but I've never heard of that before." Aiko looked blankly at all of them. "Is that what this fight's about? I'm sorry but you're all mistaken, I don't have anything like that..."

"But you do!" The miko suddenly shouted. "I can feel it, somewhere on your person you have the last jewel shard!" She pointed for emphasis.

"Well dude, I don't know what to-EEP!" Naraku had tightened his hold on her, slightly crushing her lungs. "What-what do you-think you're...doing?" she coughed out.

"It seems as though the oracle was wrong," Naraku lied calmly. He already had a new plan of action in mind. "Therefore, you are of no further use to me..." He squeezed tighter, and she gasped, drool starting to drip out of her mouth. Her feet kicked and struggled, and he could feel the sadist him starting to enjoy this...when he was struck from behind. He dropped her, and she fell gasping to the ground, where the monk leaped forward and caught her. He turned around and saw Kohaku riding the demon cat. He growled.

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_He...he tried to kill me! I almost died!_ Aiko thought in shock, sitting in the purple-robed guy's arms.

"Don't worry, you're safe now," he told her soothingly, giving her such a warm and kind smile that she did indeed feel very safe...right up until she felt a hand stroking her bottom.

"N-NO! Get off me!" She pushed him away, and he dropped her. Raising herself up on her arms she swung a kick, knocking him flat on his back. Those years of break-dancing lessons had finally come in handy. Once he was down, she got up started to run away, amid shouting voices. She didn't listen; she just had to escape, she had to get out. This was too much, and if she didn't hurry she thought for sure she would start freaking out. Aiko was about 20 yards away when a particularly large tentacle struck the ground just inches in front of her. She fell back, crying out in surprise.

Immediately the presence of a person was behind her. "And where does this Aiko think she's going?" a voice like poison asked from behind.

"_Leave her alone!_" That was the voice of the white-haired dude. He leaped forward, swinging his sword at Naraku and missing Aiko by centimeters. Naraku backed off, flying high into the air.

"Hmph...it seems I miscalculated. Keep the brat." With that he simply flew off.

"Hey." Aiko looked up, and noted for the first time how the guy had dog ears perched seamlessly on his head. "You okay?" She realized she was trembling, and wrapped her arms around herself to try and stop it.

"Okay...do you think I'm okay?" She counter-asked softly. "I'm lost, I'm tired, I'm hungry, I'm afraid, and I don't understand anything that's going on around me. Does that sound 'okay' to you?"

"It's gonna be alright..." Now the black-haired girl dressed relatively normal was approaching her. "You're from Tokyo, aren't you?"

Aiko looked up into her eyes, her heart tasting hope again. "Do you know how to get back? I fell through a well, but when I tried to jump back down, it wouldn't let me through."

The girl frowned. "You couldn't get back through the well?" Aiko nodded. "Well, you should come with us all the same, we'll be making lunch soon..." Aiko didn't move.

"What's the matter? Don't trust us?" The white-haired guy asked.

"No, as a matter of fact, I don't. I don't even know who you people are, why should I trust any of you?"

"I'm InuYasha," He answered promptly. "And this is Kagome, that's Miroku, over there is Sango, the runt is Shippo("Hey!" Shippo cried indignantly.), the boy on the cat is Kohaku-" the boy in question leaped off the giant cat's back and gave her a little bow. "And the cat is Kirara." InuYasha finished, right as Kirara transformed into a kitten. Aiko could only stare. "There used to be a flea demon with us, but he ran off-"

"I want to go home," she blurted out.

"Certainly, we'll help you try and get back home, just as soon as you give us the jewel shard," Miroku said.

"Like I said before, I don't _have_ a jewel shard..." Aiko sighed.

"But you do!" Kagome protested.

"Oh yeah, Miss Know-it-all?" Aiko snapped. "Then just where is it?"

"Um..." The miko shifted from foot to foot. "I'm can't actually tell...but it's definitely somewhere on your body..."

Aiko scoffed. "Sounds to me like you need your psychic powers need a check-up."

"Look, all we know is what we heard from an oracle," Sango explained.

Aiko stared at them. These people couldn't honestly be _that_ stupid, could they? "You trusted...a prophecy?" They nodded. Aiko face-palmed. "You _never_ trust a prophecy! Those things are utterly worthless! They never turn out like how you'd expect them, and they're not worth trying to change, because almost everything always ends up fine in the end! You people trusted an _oracle_?"

"Well she ended up being right, didn't she?" Kohaku spoke up. "No matter what you say, if Kagome can sense a jewel shard on you, then it must be so."

"It could be like that time when I first came to the feudal era," Kagome realized. "Maybe it's somewhere inside your body."

Aiko took a deep, slow breath. "Okay, you know what? I give up. Completely. If you want this jewel shard thingy, fine, whatever. But I think we should get more information on this before you start cutting me open for it."

"That's a good idea," Miroku encouraged. "The more knowledge we have, the better."

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Of course Naraku had stayed close by, masking his presence. He'd heard it all, and it was exactly what he was hoping for. Let the fools do the work for him, found out just where exactly the last jewel shard was, so he could rip it out of her body.


	4. Chapter 4: The Mask of a Bitch

**NOTE:** I don't own InuYasha, yada yada yada...

Please R&R. Seriously people. I prefer feedback above all else.

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The night sky sparkled down on the camp that night. Rather than going back to Kaede's village, they decided to keep going. Turns out, Miroku had been hearing rumors of a talented soothsayer. Though, Aiko had been totally against it, and had once again gone off on a rant on how such people weren't reliable. Only to have Sango point out that the Demon Oracle had been right about her.

_She's a whiny little brat..._ InuYasha thought to himself, finally drifting off to sleep like the others.

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She waited for InuYasha's breath to even out like everyone else's. She waited five more minutes after that, just to be sure. Stealthily getting onto her hands and feet, Aiko tip-toed away from the camp, away from the others, into the dark woods.

_Like hell I'm going to follow a group of whack-jobs(who nearly killed me) to speak to some even more insane fraud of a fortune-teller, to tell us just where they should dismember me._ The things she'd said earlier had just been a ploy. If there was one thing she was good at, it was going along with stuff until the time was right to quit. _Actually, this makes me wonder..._ she was thoughtful. From she'd been told, Naraku was _the_ grand source of e-vile himself, incarnation of sin, and the worst bastard of the bastards. Which, of course, had only made her curious about him.

_He'd seemed nice when we were just walking...though probably that was just a trick to try and get my jewel shard(which I don't have)._ But then, why would he try to kill her, then let her go? Didn't he want the jewel shard as well as the whack-jobs? _What's he got under his sleeves?_ She sighed, relaxing her rogue gait into a determined walk. At any rate, she knew it was worthless to hang around those people. If you wanted something, you had to get it yourself.

0-0-0

"Bzzbzz, bzz bzzz bzz bzzz Bzbbzbzz bzz bzzbzzb. Bzz bzz bz bzzbzzbzz bzz bzzzz."

"Hmm, interesting," Naraku mused. Now why would the human abandon her comrades? It'd seemed like they were getting along before... "Anything else?"

"Bz bz bzzz. Bzzzz bzz bzz bzzzz bz bz bzzbzzzbz bzzbzzbzz bzz bzzzz..."

"I see. Well, go back and keep an eye on her. I'm curious as to what my jewel shard could have in mind..."

"Bzz bz bzzz." The Saimyosho buzzed away, back the it'd came.

"Lord Naraku?" The demon in question turned, his attention now on Byakuya. "Are you sure this girl has the last jewel shard? She's the most human-like human I've ever seen."

"Oh, she's got it alright." Magatsuhi, in his creepy form of a floating face came up. "I can sense it in her... a little piece of darkness finally found... It's awfully pure though," he finished in a disappointed voice.

"Pure? I'm sorry, but have you heard of the way she acts? The Saimyosho told me was a total bitch."

"Bitch...or just the mask of one?" he mysteriously countered, floating away.

"Weirdo," Byakuya sighed. "Whenever we leave the girl with him, I always feel a pang of pity for her."

"Indeed..." Naraku was thoughtful. Magatsuhi might've actually been on to something. Just like how he'd worn the face of a kind lord in the past, why shouldn't it be possible for her to be wearing the mask of a bitch? The true question, however, was why?

"...ku."

"Pardon?" He snapped out of his reverie.

"I was saying, I'm going to go and kill some humans for sport," Byakuya repeated, a hint of annoyance touching his sentence.

"Very well then." They turned form each other, incarnation of evil and incarnation of the incarnation of evil going their separate ways. He studied the floor as it moved beneath his feet, a small, rhythmic thud echoing form his feet. _Why?_

0-0-0

She was exhausted. In hind sight, it probably wasn't _that_ good an idea to slip away while everyone else slept. But whatever, all that mattered was Aiko getting away from crazy town, back to where things made more sense. Maybe she was even dreaming, and she'd wake up, with the thought to be more appreciative of-

"Ack!"

"Aa!"

Aiko had tripped, and from the feel of what she was currently sprawled upon, had fallen on top of someone. Amid squirming limbs she got off the victim of her clumsiness and sat back. "Hey I'm really sorry man, I-" she cut herself mid-sentence, staring in shock.

"Watch where you're going, you clumsy human!" the small, green, imp-like creature lectured. Behind him, a tall figure dressed in white stepped forward. Aiko's eyes slowly traveled up his form, finally reaching a set of amber eyes, just like the white-haired dog-demon.


	5. Chapter 5: Someone Who Doesn't Care

**NOTE:**

Mandatory disclaimer(while being unnecessary) is mandatory. So yeah, I do. not. own InuYasha.

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"You can't be serious..." Aiko breathed to herself.

The white-haired guy who struck a horrific resemblance to InuYasha stepped forward, grabbed Aiko by the front of her shirt, and hoisted her up into the air for inspection. "Why do you have Naraku's scent on you?" he asked in a quiet, and unreasonably intimidating voice.

"Oh god, don't tell me you're the same as the group of looney's I just left! I mean, the make-up I can let slide, but-" she cut herself off. She'd just spotted his pointy ears.

"Foolish human! You will show respect to Lord Sesshomaru or so help me-" the green munchkin started to rant. The term 'green munchkin' ran itself through Aiko's head a few more times as she truly started to process her current situation. And then she noticed a two-headed dragon-like creature standing behind them, saddled up like a horse or something.

"Jaken, be quiet," the man referred to as Lord Sesshomaru interrupted. He turned his attention back to Aiko. "And as for you..." He slammed her against the nearest tree, and kept her pinned there by the throat. "You will explain yourself immediately."

"I-I-" she stuttered, true panic starting to overtake her. Why was none of this ending? Why did she keep running into weird people and things? Up until that point, she'd started to convince herself that maybe this was all just a lively dream. The sudden lack of oxygen however, said otherwise.

"Lord Sesshomaru just asked you a question! An-" the verdant imp dubbed Jaken started to say.

"Jaken," Sesshomaru warned. His hold on her throat got tighter, his claws digging into the flesh and threatening to break skin.

"I-I- I don't know!" Aiko cried out, a single tear rolling down her cheek. "I don't know anything anymore! I don't know why I had to run into Naraku, I don't know why I got picked up by that group of whack-jobs, and I don't know why I'm here now!" The demon's hold on her lessened, and she took deep, shuddering breaths to try and calm herself. "I just want to go home! I want this dream, or nightmare, to end!"

"Well unfortunately for you human, this is no dream." That imp simply did not seem to know when to shut up. Sesshomaru seemed to think so as well, for he placed a foot on the little guy's head, and pressed down on him. He also released Aiko, so that she fell to the ground, her arms wrapped around herself and shivering.

"You're not worth my time..." He started to walk away, Jaken and the steed turning to follow him.

Aiko looked up at the pair in surprise. "Wait, you're not after me?"

"Why would we be? We have more important matters to attend to then run around after silly humans," Jaken replied insolently to her. A blur of white, and a large bumb appeared on his head. "Except for Rin of course, forgive me m'lord..."

Aiko watched them for a few seconds before wobbling onto her feet and trotting after them. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have assumed," she said once she'd caught up. "It's just that it seems like everyone else has been after me today, so it has me stressed out. Not to mention, I still don't understand what's going on."

"Why would anyone be after you?" Jaken asked in an irritated voice. "And why are you following us?"

"Search me man. All I've got to run on so far is some bogus prophecy about me having the last jewel shard or whatever."

"Oh please, how would someone like you get your filthy hands on something like the last jewel shard?"

"I know right? I don't even know what it looks like!"

"Anyway, you still haven't answered my first question; why are you following us?"

Aiko thought about it for a moment. "Not sure...I suppose it's because I find you lot more likeable than the last bunch I ran into after that fight with Naraku."

"By any chance, was the ring-leader of that 'bunch' name InuYasha?"

"Yeah! You know him?"

Jaken gave a mighty huff of annoyance and stuck his nose in the air. "As if! InuYasha is the sworn enemy of the great Lord Sesshomaru, a despicable half-demon!"

"Half-demon..." Aiko said slowly. "So...there really are demons?"

"Of course there are! What do you think we are, fairies?"

Aiko shrugged. "It's just, where I come from, demons don't exist."

"What kind of place is that? Demons have always existed."

"Maybe...but over there they're nothing more than a scary bedtime story."

"Yeck, what a dreadful land..."

Aiko smiled at the look of disgust on Jaken's face. "At any rate, I prefer you over them because at least with you people we won't be traveling around the country to find out where they should dissect me."

"Say what?"

"Nothing," she giggled. The sky above started to turn gray, a sign of morning approaching. The lush forest reached the neutral stage of morning that one can only see and appreciate if they woke up early. "That's why I ran away in the middle of the night. But what luck I was able to run into relatively normal folk like you!" the whole time she and Jaken had been talking, Sesshomaru had continued on, completely ignoring them. Aiko now skipped up to his side so she could peer into his marked face. "I might be here for a while, so I'll introduce myself; my name is Aiko Jigoku-supon." Both Sesshomaru and Jaken arched an eyebrow at her. "Yeah I know."

0-0-0

Naraku had been enjoying a particularly good cup of tea, appreciating the quiet stillness of early morning, with all its neutral tones and calm grays, when a desperate buzzing sound breached the edge of his hearing. He opened his eyes and tilted his head towards the growing sound. The speck that was the Saimyosho steadily grew until it became life-size a few feet from his face.

"What news?" Naraku sighed. He'd been so close to relaxing, something he hadn't accomplished in years.

"Bzz bzzz! Bzz'z bzzz! Bzz bzzz BzbBzbzz bzz bzz bzzzz!" the insect relayed in a desperate flurry of wings.

Naraku's eyes widened in shock. "What? Where is she now?"

A second Saimyosho showed up at that point. "Bz bzzz, B'zz bzzzbzz bzz bzzz. Bzz bzz bzzzz bz bz bzzbzzbzz bzzz bzz bzbzz Bzzz Bzzbzzbzbz bzz."

Naraku clenched his eyes and rubbed at the throbbing spot on his temple. Of _course_ she would start traveling with _him_. "Go. Go and follow like always. Make sure he can't sense you. There's something I need to find out about this situation, and I need you to go keep an eye on it."

"Bz bz bzz?" the first Saimyosho asked.

"Both of you!" he snapped.

0-0-0

"Where could she have gone?" Shippo panicked.

"Calm down Shippo, she can't have gone far," Kagome comforted. They'd all noticed it when they'd woken up in the sunny morning. Aiko had left, along with their last chance.

"I swear, when I find her..!" InuYasha grumbled to no one in particularly, bending low to the ground and sniffing for the trail.

"When we found her, we're going to _calmly_ ask what happened, and not pressure the poor girl about it," Miroku reprimanded.

"Whatever, her scent goes this way, c'mon!"


	6. Chapter 6: A Deal with a Strange Girl

**NOTE:** I do not own InuYasha. I do own Aiko.

Also, to answer Dontgotaclue88's question, Aiko's given name means "child of love", while her taken name means "hell-spawn". I simply thought it would be freaking hilarious if she had such a contradictory name. XD Moving on now...

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The sun met no obstacles as it shined down, the sky tinted a bright blue. When Aiko had weened hungry, she'd simply dig into her bag for food, or wandered off for a while. Not that she actually knew which plants and herbs were safe to eat, but luckily she'd managed to drag Jaken along to help her, at the expense of being called an idiot multiple times. Otherwise, Aiko's stay in Lord Sesshomaru's and Jaken's presence was quiet. She liked the silence, it was very relaxing. At least, that's how it used to be. And then the group of looneys showed up.

Sesshomaru had suddenly stopped, his serious expression now intensified with a dash of anger. "He's coming," was all he said.

"Who's coming?" Aiko immediately asked.

"Oh, who else but InuYasha?" Jaken answered. He gave Aiko an accusatory look. "He's probably after you."

"Oh you've got to be kidding me..." Aiko exasperated. She turned around, just in time to see the band of psychos appear. "Can't you guys take a hint?" Aiko yelled at them.

"Aiko, why'd you run away? And why are you with Sesshomaru?" Kagome asked, ignoring Aiko's previous statement.

"Hmm, gee, maybe it was because I didn't want to travel all over the god-forsaken country, only to get to know where you nut-cases should slice me open?"

"When you say it like that, it sounds really bad," InuYasha said defensively.

Aiko's eye twitched. "Oh really? How would _you_ say it?"

"That we're trying to remove the jewel shard from your body so you won't be bothered anymore and can be returned home," Miroku supplied.

"...Damn that's good."

"Anyway, what're you doing with that creep?" InuYasha questioned, pointing a finger at Sesshomaru.

"InuYasha, are you really in a position to be calling me a creep when you so desperately hunt down a woman who obviously has no interest in you?" Sesshomaru responded.

"BURN!" Aiko laughed. Everybody stared at her. She cleared her throat. "At any rate, you idiots can go away. I have no intention of cooperating, so you might as well give up."

"Quit being so selfish! We need the jewel shard to defeat Naraku!" InuYasha argued.

"Hmm, too bad I don't care," she shrugged.

"Why you-"

"InuYasha, wait." Kagome grabbed him by the shoulder. She was looking at Aiko in a strange, and somewhat irritating way, as if she _knew_ her. She looked back at InuYasha. "Don't forget what the oracle said. We better not force her."

"But-!"

"We're not arguing about this InuYasha."

"...Wench," he muttered.

"Sit." A cry of alarm and a cloud of dust later, and the half-demon was slammed into the ground.

Aiko chuckled. "Convenient. Anyway, if that's all, I'll be going now." She turned her back on them, and continued walking, never looking back.

0-0-0

"Bz bzzz, bzz bzzz bzzzz bz bzzz bbzzbzzzz bzz bzzzz. Bzz bzzzz bz bzzbzzbz bz bzz bzzz bzz bzzzz bzzzz bz bzz bzzbzz."

Naraku sighed. "I'm not surprised. In the end, even when I try to take a little rest and let others do the work, I'm the only one who can get the job done."

"Bzzzz bzz bzzz bz bz bzzz bzzz bz bzzz?"

"No, that's quite unnecessary," Naraku replied. "I shall handle this myself."

"Bz bzz bzzz, bzzz bzbzzbz bzz."

0-0-0

The moon was up now, bright and white and almost full. The trio sat around a campfire. Aiko and Jaken were arguing, and Sesshomaru had his eyes closed and seemed to be meditating.

"Gah, how can one woman be so infuriating?" Jaken exploded.

"The same can be said about you," Aiko retorted. Before Jaken could respond, she abruptly stood up. "I'm tired, so I'm going for a walk."

"Why would you go for a walk if you're tired?"

She ignored his question. "I'll be back soon." With that she walked off into the woods. Here the moonlight fell in patches and pieces, unable to fully break through the thick leafy canopy. Aiko walked without direction, making little mental reminders here and there so that she could find her way back. Eventually she came across a decently sized oak, and sat down, her back against the rough bark. She took off her glasses and rubbed the bridge of her nose.

She folded her glasses up in her hands, and simply looked around her. The world was a funny place without her glasses, everything was always blurred and trickier to make out without them. If she wanted to focus on something, she had to squint her eyes. She sighed. "It's only been a day and a half, yet it feels so much longer than that," she remarked to herself. "I really am so tired. Perhaps 40 winks are in order before heading back?" She decided that it couldn't hurt, and promptly closed her eyes and started counting 40 winks.

0-0-0

Beyond, in the trees, a shadow moved. Without sound and without breath it moved closer and closer to the sleeping jewel shard. It's hand was reached out to grab her and run off, when her hand shot up and grabbed him by the wrist.

"So, it's you again, Naraku," she said, opening her eyes and turning her head to look at him. She was a lot prettier without the glasses, except that she was squinting. "Are you going to kidnap me?"

"Very perceptive of you." Without another word Naraku scooped her up and had her in his arms, ready to carry off.

"Before you do, can I say some things?"

"You can say them when we reach my home."

"I'll make it worth your while."

Naraku sighed. "What is it?"

"First of all, I should like to say I hate you."

"The feeling's mutual."

Aiko nodded. "But luckily, I hate everyone else even more than I hate you. So I'll cut you a deal, but first, put me down." He did so. "You want the jewel shard, right?" He nodded. "Right. Well, while I do hate you, I am curious about you. And I hate that InuYasha gang above all else. So I'll tell you what, I'll go back to them and we'll try and find out where the jewel shard is, and when we do, I'll give it to you. Fair?"

Naraku raised an eyebrow at her. "What's the catch?"

She put her hands behind her back and gave him a teasing smile. "I want you to visit me often."

"...What?"

"I said I was curious. I want to get to know you, and form my own opinion of you, not what of everyone else has told me."

"...You're a very strange girl."

"I'm aware of this. At any rate, do we have a deal? You let me run free, you come visit me for innocent little chats, and then I'll give you the jewel shard." She stuck her hand out expectantly. Naraku stared at the hand before doing the same with his own. She then clapped their hands together and shook them up and down. "Great," she smiled. She turned on heel and walked off.

_A very strange girl indeed..._


	7. Chapter 7: Bath Time

**NOTE:**

I don't own InuYasha. I do own Aiko.

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Aiko walked with a brisk pace away from where she'd made her deal. Every now and then she'd glance over her shoulder, before finally slowing down to stare at the no longer visible area. She decided that she was probably out of earshot now, and took in a shuddering gasp of air, bracing herself on her knees. _Dear god, I've never been more afraid in my entire life!_ she thought, her throat starting hurt from her raspy breathing. She felt like she'd just ran a marathon. She thought for sure he'd been able to hear her pounding heart, or at least feel the cold-sweat that had broken out on her body.

"Positives Aiko, think about the positives..." she tried to calm herself, once she'd regained the ability to breathe normally. "On the bright side, I've managed to convince the guy I've been dreadfully curious about into visiting me on a regular basis. On the down side, I've managed to convince the guy who **almost killed me** into visiting me on a regular basis. Ack, wait! That's negative! Positives, positives..." There were no other positives. "Bleh, whatever, might as well get to work," she sighed.

She finally returned her glasses to their rightful place on her face, for she was starting to get a headache, and continued on. Soon she reached the little clearing where she, Jaken, and Sesshomaru had made camp. The fire was out now though, and Jaken was fast asleep, snoring loudly. She wasn't certain about Sesshomaru though, he was in exactly the same position she'd left him in. She started to approach him, when she stopped. The first time they'd met, he'd attacked her because she'd smelt a little like Naraku, despite that roughly a day had passed. He'd be suspicious if she got too close, with Naraku's scent all over her again.

Aiko slipped her bag off her shoulders, and digging around managed to pull out a pencil and a scrap of paper. Using her knee as a table, she scribbled a note, saying that she changed her mind, and was leaving after all. Once she was done she folded it up into a paper airplane, and gave it a light toss. It floated to him, and landed neatly in his lap. _There we go,_ Aiko thought, nodding her head in satisfaction. She replaced the pencil, stood back up, and left. A few leaves rustled in the breeze.

-0-0-

The moon was high in it's perch. Aiko pressed patiently onward through the silver-tinted foliage. She'd reach the group of loons eventually. Aiko had a feeling that they'd stayed close by. She was about to step over a log, when suddenly the small rush of moving water reached her ears. She paused to listen to it; such pretty sounds water could make, and this one was like a sigh. _There's a river nearby..._ Aiko wondered when the last time she'd taken a bath was. So much had happened in the past couple days, the thought had been pushed completely from her head. A few quick calculations told her that approximately two days, 22hours, and 18 minutes had passed since her last bath. Much too long for her tastes.

Aiko abruptly switched directions and headed towards the heavenly sounds. Sure enough, there was a river. She kneeled beside the delicate current, dipping her fingers in the liquid-ice. It'll have to do. She stood back up and promptly stripped, placing her clothes in a neat pile on top of her bag. She pulled her short-tail out, so that it could fall and join the rest of her hair at the shoulders. _It's been so long..._ She waded her way out into the middle of the river, ignoring the shock that went through her body from the sudden shift in temperatures. Here the water was about hip high, and covered her most intimate parts quite nicely. She dipped her head underneath, her glistening body coming back up a few seconds later.

If there was one thing in the entire world that Aiko loved, it was a good bath. All her problems and troubles just seemed to go away when she bathed. When she bathed, the world was a beautiful, wonderful place. In the water, she was a different person, a kinder, more gentle person. In the water, the mask she'd grown used to wearing for facing the tough world slipped away, revealing the thoughtful soul underneath. Back home, she'd take a bath twice a day, maybe three if she was feeling depressed. The thought made her think about her parents. And then her friends. And then her life. Everything, everything that had ever mattered to her...it was all gone.

Unfortunately, the other her was weak. The other her felt a lump form in her throat as the weight of everything finally crashed down on her shoulders. The other her was very, very afraid. A few drops of hot tears escaped her eyes, and she couldn't hold back anymore. Moaning pitifully she placed her face in her hands, and cried.

0-0-0

Lightening fast the wheels in his head assessed the situation, searching for ways it can be exploited. He found quite a few. If the girl wanted to form her own opinion of him by spending time with him, he'd let her. It was obvious she didn't trust what the others had said, why not reinforce that distrust by twisting the stories so that he was in the light, and they were in the shadows? And of course by complying with her whims, her faith in him would only grow.

Naraku smiled to himself as all the possibilities of just how far he could push this deal rose to the surface. The girl was a clever to try and have him wrapped around her finger like that, but not clever enough. He was about an eighth of the way home, when a thought occurred to him. What if the girl tried to run away, staking a false deal to only buy herself time? It wouldn't be the first time someone had broken a deal with him. He changed directions, opting to follow her and make sure.

Presently he found her pushing her way through the moonlit woods. He kept to the shadows, presence masked, like a bandit. _Curse my past..._ Naraku thought at the instinctual, stealthy way he moved. He watched her prepare to take a step over a log, when she suddenly stopped. Her head snapped in the direction where sounds of rushing water could be heard. Her coursed changed, and she now headed towards the source. _What's she up to?_ He followed. Presently, they reached the river the sounds were issuing from.

After dipping her fingers in the water, she wasted no time in stripping down. _Oh, I see._ A bath. Personally though Naraku didn't think it was necessary; she smelled nice all on her own. Naraku let himself relax a little, crossing his arms and leaning against the nearby tree, keeping an eye on his jewel shard. He had to admit, he was a little surprised she hadn't at least looked around her before getting naked. He watched her make her way to the center, sending ripples out to combat the current before slipping away.

She dunked herself underwater, and when she didn't come back up for a few seconds, Naraku started to worry that she'd drowned. But sure enough, like a daisy she popped back at, her brown hair whipping around and sending a spray of water. She brushed a few stray strands from her face, and then was still for the longest time. Naraku's interest started to fade when he heard a sniff. And then a hint of salt was in the air. He turned to look at her again, and saw that her face was now in her hands, little pathetic sounds echoing out from her. _She's crying? Why? _She remained like that for the longest time, just standing in the middle of the river, the current rushing past her as she wept. Finally she took a few heavy sniffs, wiping an arm across her eyes before dunking down again. _What a weakling..._ He took a few steps back as she came forward to redress.

0-0-0

_That's better..._ Aiko remarked to herself, pulling her shirt back on. It'd been a while since she'd felt the need to cry like that. Now she should have the strength to go for a few more days without letting any of her weaknesses show. And she'd be needing the strength her mask provided if she was to keep her deal with Naraku a secret. Grabbing her hair-tie, she grabbed a chunk of the dripping strands and pulled it back up into a short-tail. Last to be put back on were her glasses, a few drops of water landing on the glass from her bangs. She gave the river once last look. She was slightly entranced with the flying droplets. _Until the next bath..._


	8. Chapter 8: To Troll a Village

**NOTE:** I do not own InuYasha. I do own Aiko.

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They'd been sitting around a campfire, eating breakfast, when InuYasha had smelled her scent in the wind.

"Someone's coming," he stated causally, taking another bite out of his fish.

"Who?" Sango asked.

"Not sure. It's human though."

"Maybe it's Aiko?" Kohaku suggested.

"Could be." Behind him the bushes rustled, and out popped the girl herself.

"Hey guys," Aiko greeted, as though nothing had happened.

"Aiko, you're back!" Kagome cheered.

"Yup."

"So you decided to do the right thing and help in our fight with Naraku by discovering where the jewel shard is?" Miroku incorrectly surmised.

"I'm going to say yes. Oh cool, breakfast!" Without waiting for an invitation she sat down with the group and grabbed the last fish from it's spot over the fire. She munched noisily on the much needed meal. "So what's first on our agenda?" she asked between bites.

"Well the village that the soothsayer lives nearby isn't far from here, so we thought that first we'd find a place to stay there, and then go visit her," Kagome explained.

"Psychedelic, man." The others couldn't help but stare.

-0-0-

The sun had just past the mid-day point when they'd reached the village. Miroku had immediately approached the wealthiest looking home in the place, and proclaimed that there was an evil spirit residing there. Aiko, in the meantime, had chosen to wander off and explore the town. Naturally, the people gawked at the strange girl, but she ignored them.

"Has quite the homey feel to it," Aiko commented sarcastically to herself, her head turning left and right like a tourist. She eventually caught sight of an artist trying to sell some of his ink paintings. "Oh, pretty." She walked over and started to inspect his wares.

"Hello there miss, may I help you with anything?" the painter asked, an eager smile plastered on his face.

"Hmm, nah..." Aiko didn't mention the fact that she didn't have any money.

Towards her left, a small child and his mother were walking by. The child pointed at Aiko and asked, "Mommy, why does that girl where those things on her eyes? Is she a demon?"

"Hush child," the mother quickly intervened.

Aiko stood up straight, eyes shut as she adjusted her glasses. She would've just walked away then, if a rather humorous idea hadn't come across her mind. She turned to the little boy, a cruel smile on her mouth. "That's right kid, I'm a demon. And these things I'm wearing on my eyes allow me suck out people's _souls_!"

"M-Mommy!" The kid cried.

His mother quickly shoved him behind her. "Stay away from my child you demon!" she yelled, swinging at her. Aiko ducked and started to run away.

"I'm gonna swallow everybody's souls~, I'm gonna swallow everybody's souls~!" she chanted. As could only be expected, an angry mob started to form.

0-0-0

"Hey, where do you think Aiko went?" Shippo asked. They had settled down to lunch, and were halfway through the generous portions laid out for them.

"She said she wanted to have a look around," Sango calmly explained. The others stared at her.

"...And you just let her go?" InuYasha asked incredulously.

"Of course not. I sent Kirara to keep an eye on her-" At that moment Aiko burst threw the doors, panting and out of breath, yet giggling at the same time.

"Where were you?" InuYasha questioned.

"Oh, raising hell..." Aiko replied with a mischievous smile. At that moment the sound of an angry mob could be heard outside.

"What did you do?" Kagome exclaimed, leaping to her feet and rushing outside. The others quickly followed.

"Nothin' much, I just be trollin'." She swaggered outside, arms crossed and a satisfied expression on her face. At the gates, they could see Kirara keeping the villagers at bay,and the homeowner and a large majority of his men trying to keep order and find out what was going on.

"Oh God..." Kagome complained.

One of the villagers noted Aiko standing out in the open. "Look, there she is!" he cried, pointing. "It's her we want, she's the demon!"

Aiko laughed. "You people are so gullible! I was _lying_, duh!"

"Likely story!" The rest of the villagers jeered their agreement.

"Hmm dear, it seems I have made a mess..." Aiko sighed. "Kagome, I think you should handle this."

Kagome scowled at her, but stepped forward all the same. "Villagers! I can guarantee you all that Aiko is not a demon, and that she will not cause any of you harm!"

"Oh yeah? And why should we trust you?"

Kagome narrowed her eyes at the man. "Because I'm a priestess, and if she was ever going to do anything bad, then I would purify her." Behind her, Aiko gulped at the threat.

The villagers started to settle down a bit, but they still shot daggers at Aiko. "Well...fine. Just don't let us catch her wandering around our village!" Kagome nodded. One by one, the villagers turned and left. Kagome sighed in relief, when she was approached by the owner of the home.

"While I am grateful to the monk for banishing my home of the evil spirit, if that girl truly is a terrible demon, this know that I shall not hesitate in kicking you out," he warned.

"Rest assured, you and your family are in no danger whatsoever," Miroku spoke up. The man nodded, glared at Aiko, then walked back into the house. Everyone turned to Aiko, looking like they wanted to hit her.

"...I'm in trouble," she stated.


	9. Chapter 9: Imported Goods and Interests

**NOTE:** I don't own InuYasha. I do own Aiko.

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Aiko stared lazily at the trail ahead as Kagome lectured her. After the episode with the villagers, none of the others had wanted to go with Aiko, and had instead designated Kagome to keep an eye on her.

"Just...why the heck would you do that?" Kagome finished, coming to an end to her rant.

Aiko considered. "...Revenge," she answered after a while.

"Revenge for what?"

"They were all staring at me. Judging me, making opinions, coming up with their own conclusions and assumptions." Aiko glanced over at Kagome. "I don't like being judged."

Kagome stared at her. "...You are very insecure and stupid." Aiko shrugged. "Oh look," Kagome said, getting distracted. She pointed out a little hut, almost hidden behind the trees ahead. "That should be her." She strode forward, brushing aside the forestry, Aiko following close behind. She knocked on the door.

"Who be it?" came a croaking voice from inside.

"Are you the soothsayer?" Kagome asked.

"Who wants to know?"

"We do, we need your help!"

"Get away! I've no time fer the likes of you!"

"...We'll pay?" Aiko suggested. The door slid open so fast it caused a draft.

"Ah! Dearies! Do come in, Auntie Gin's gonna take good care of you!" She ushered them inside, closing the door behind them. 'Auntie' Gin was a very old, little, tanned woman. Her long white hair was tied back into braids, and her leathery brown skin hung in wrinkles about her body. She wore a very colorful and baggy kimono, which fooled no one from thinking that it was low-quality. She rubbed her hands together in an eager manner. "Now, what can Auntie Gin do fer you, dearies?" She grinned at them with her one tooth.

"Uh...there's something...supernatural in my friend here," Kagome explained, gesturing towards Aiko. "We were hoping you could find out where it was, so we can get out of her?"

"Hmmm, cursed, are ya?" she asked, taking a step forward. She circled Aiko, searching her up and down like a vulture. "Well, let's find out if there truly is something wrong with you," she decided, nodding. "Come with me." She grabbed Aiko's hand, and led her to a niche in the wall. She had Aiko lie down facing up, her head in the niche, while she walked over to a nearby rope. Aiko noted there were little grooves on either side of her head, and what looked to be a pulley system attached to the rope. Gin grabbed the rope, getting ready to pull.

"Umm, what exactly is this thing?" Aiko asked, feeling a few drops of sweat form on her forehead.

"There's no word fer it in Japanese, but in France it's called a guillotine!"

"YIPE!" Aiko squealed, sitting up just as a foot by foot large razor slammed quivering in the spot where her neck had been only moments ago. She hyperventilated, rubbing at her throat.

"Oh, I missed," Gin pouted.

Aiko gave her an accusatory glare. "_Where did you even GET a guillotine?_" she shouted at her. Gin chose not to answer.

"Um, Auntie Gin," Kagome piped up. "Don't you have any other methods for finding out where the object is, methods that don't include fatally wounding my friend?"

Gin sighed. "I do, it's just I've never gotten to use the guillotine yet..." Aiko looked daggers at the old lady's back. "Fine, we'll do it the old-fashioned way." She bustled past Kagome to some large pots sitting in the corner of the room. A few seconds later she came back and crouched down in front of Aiko, something in her fist. "What's your favorite color?"

Aiko blinked. "Uh, blue?" Gin flicked her fist open, a white powder flying out and dusting Aiko's face. Aiko coughed, thankful that her glasses prevented the powder from getting into her eyes, the stench of rotten eggs stinging her nose.

"Welp, that's it," Gin declared standing up straight and dusting her hands off in a satisfied manner.

"Did you find the thing?" Kagome asked, hopeful.

"Nope. There just isn't anything in her head."

"No, but there might be something in yours..." Aiko muttered.

Gin ignored her. "I can do nothing more fer you. Now pay up, and get out of my house!"

-0-0-

"Why'd you have to say we'd pay her?" Kagome was still complaining on the way back. The cicadas were out, chirping their nocturnal concert.

"It got us the visit, didn't it?" Aiko shot back, her blood pressure still a little high from the whole fiasco.

"I just wish she had agreed to do more than just check your head..." she grumbled.

"And I wish that I wasn't here. We've all got crap to deal with, so shut up." Kagome kept her mouth closed the rest of the way back. Eventually they made it back to the house, where they were greeted by Kohaku and Shippo.

"Hey girls, how did it go?" Kohaku asked amicably.

Aiko made a noise of contempt. "Why don't you ask Miss Pansy-Ass over here?"

"Aiko, shut up! At least I'm not a complete jerk!" Kagome retorted.

"That well, huh?" Shippo commented.

"When I want to hear comments from the peanut gallery, I'll be sure to let you know, wise-ass," Aiko responded.

"Hey, don't you go picking on Shippo now!" Kagome defended.

Aiko turned away. "Tch, you people piss me off. I'm going for a walk..."

"Hey wait a minute now!"

"I won't be running off Kagome, if I do you can just purify me," she tossed flippantly over her shoulder.

"Grr...that girl..." Kagome growled, her fists clenched.

0-0-0

Naraku sat on some high branches, his back resting against the trunk of a nicely-sized tree. As promised, he sat close by to where his jewel shard and the worthless fools she traveled with were apparently staying, and was now awaiting her to keep her part of the bargain. Eventually his ears honed in on the sound of someone quietly fuming to themselves. His half-shut ruby eyes slid over to the source, and eventually spotted the girl. She was mumbling incoherently to herself and kicking at whatever rocks who dared to sit in her way.

"Hey, Naraku, if you're close by, a signal of your whereabouts would be nice!" she shouted just as she approached his tree. His answer; he swooped his tentacles down and picked her up. She shrieked and wriggled until he brought her up to eye-level with him. "Oh," she sighed in relief. "It's just you."

Naraky raised an eyebrow at that. "'Just'?" he repeated, making his tentacles slither around her.

"Uh, I mean, I'm so happy to see you?" Aiko tried again, letting out another sigh of relief when the queer appendages stopped moving across her body. Naraku nodded his approval, then sat her down on the branch, a few feet in front of him. He was prepared for this visit. He'd spent a lot of time fabricating the perfect lies for whatever questions about him she may want answered. He was not going to lose-

"What's your favorite color?" Aiko asked out of the blue.

Naraku blinked. He blinked twice. "...Why do you want to know what my favorite color is?"

"I think it's important to know what a person's favorite color is. I think it says a lot about them," Aiko explained. "For instance, mine is blue."

Naraku blinked again. "...Purple, I suppose."

"Yeah, I thought so," Aiko snickered, but quickly shut up at the look he gave her. "Anyway, your favorite food?"

-0-0-

In Naraku's opinion, it had all been completely worthless. She hadn't asked a single meaningful question, instead preferring to question him on his likes and dislikes. And any conversation she'd tried striking up with him had been on the strangest subjects, and didn't even have a point. Naraku inwardly groaned at the thought that he would have to do this every night until they found out where the jewel shard is. _Karma is a bitch named Aiko..._ he thought.


	10. Chapter 10: Paparazzi in Highschool

**NOTE:** I don't own InuYasha, but I do own Aiko.

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A few birds flew by in the sky, casting a brief silhouette on Aiko's face as it was once again caressed by the summer sun. She walked with Kagome, InuYasha, and Shippo to the well. After the fiasco with the soothsayer, Kagome announced that it was time for her to head back to her time. Though InuYasha complained loudly, they eventually made it all the way back without incident. The only delay they faced is that everyday, Aiko would go and take a bath, always at almost the exact same time everyday. And she always came back late. Now they reached the top of the hill, where the well lay.

Kagome climbed on top, her legs dangling and her arms braced to push her off and down. "Well, I'll be back in a week. Anything special you guys want when I return?"

"Can you bring me some more crayons? The ones I have now are running low," Shippo requested.

"A particular reason you're going Kagome?" Aiko asked.

Kagome nodded. "High school starts in two days, and I don't want to miss it."

"High school..." a wistful expression came over her face, a lonely desire, like a plant that thirsts for water. "Now that I think about it, I was supposed to start high school today." It got very quiet. Kagome tried to put a hand on Aiko's shoulder, but she shrugged her off. She looked back up, a smile that didn't match her eyes on her face. "When you go back, could you tell me parents what's happened to me, and that I miss them and love them."

"Sure," Kagome agreed quietly. She turned towards the well, preparing to jump.

"And," Aiko said, making Kagime wobble as she caught herself. "Could you contact my friends, and tell them that I'm okay? I'm sure they're worried as well."

Kagome nodded. "I will." She prepared to leave again. Her hands left the wooden railing, and gravity started to grab hold, when-

"And!" Aiko called out. Kagome quickly flipped around, grabbing onto a rung from the ladder.

"What?" Kagome huffed.

"Could you bring back some cherry sour bombs for me?"

"Fine!" She let go, and fell down, down, down into the well.

Aiko leaned over, looking down at the well. There was a flash of blue light, and then it returned to darkness. "How come this well lets her go back and forth, but not me?" she asked aloud.

"The well only lets certain people through, those people being InuYasha and Kagome, and you for the one time," Shippo answered, coming up beside her.

"Hmm...picky thing, isn't it?"

0-0-0

Kagome fell through the blue cosmos that were the transition zone for the well's time-traveling abilities. Despite how small it always made Kagome feel, she liked how peaceful and calm it always was. Not counting the first encounter with Mistress Centipede. In a flash of light, Kagome landed softly at the bottom of the well, 500 years in the future. _Ah, it's good to be home..._ Kagome thought.

Suddenly she heard a series of clicking above her, and flashes of white suddenly filled the dark hole, along with the sound of people shouting. Kagome looked up, her eyebrows high in her forehead, an arm raised to shield her eyes from the bright lights. Above her she could a whole swarm of people crowding around the well, taking pictures, aiming microphones down at her, asking endless questions.

"Are you Kagome Higurashi?"

"So what your family said about the well being a supernatural thing was true?"

"What's it like 500 years in the past?"

"Have you come into contact with Aiko Jigoku-supon?"

"Have you possibly kidnapped Aiko as a part of some feudal black magic ceremony?"

"Hey, woah! Just what's going on here?" Kagome asked, bewildered.

"Kagome? Kagome is that you?" a familiar voice called over the crowd.

"Mom?"

A few minutes later Mom managed to push herself in front of the throng, and appeared above her daughter. "Oh Kagome, thank goodness! Please hurry into the house."

"Mom, what's going on here? Why are all these reporters here? You didn't give away our secret did you?" Kagome questioned as she climbed up the ladder. Once she was out, Mom placed an arm around her shoulders and pulled her through the answer-hungry crowd. Once they had stepped outside, there were yet more reporters waiting outside to bombard them with questions, along with police and investigators.

"Everyone please step aside, my daughter is in no state to be answering any questions!" Mom yelled, shoving people aside. When they finally reached the door, Mom quickly shoved Kagome inside and slammed the door shut behind them.

"Mom, what's going on? How did all these people find out?" Kagome asked.

Mom sighed. "C'mon Kagome, it's best we all explain it to you." She walked past Kagome towards the living room, and Kagome followed. Waiting inside were Grandpa and Sota.

Sota got up and ran over to his sister. "Kagome, you have no idea how happy we are to see you! Things have been a complete nightmare lately!"

"Sota, what's happened?" Kagome asked.

"It's best if you sit down Kagome," Grandpa told her. After hesitating a little, they all sat down, Sota next to Grandpa, Kagome across from Sota, and Mom sitting next to her. "A few days ago, a young girl named Aiko Jigoku-supon disappeared here at the shrine."

"Aiko?" Kagome repeated.

"Ah, so you do know her," Grandpa observed, raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah, met her a few days ago. What about her?"

"Well, her parents simply threw a fit when they couldn't find their only daughter, and went so far as to hire a few investigators to find her. Unfortunately, they turned up evidence proving that she fell down the Bone-Eater's Well, and started asking us questions."

"We're so sorry Kagome, but we had no choice," Mom apologized. "They probably would've arrested us if we didn't cooperate."

"We tried to convince them to keep this all a secret, but of course word got out, paranormal investigators showed up, and well, the rest is history," Grandpa finished solemnly.

"Oh no..." Kagome bowed her head, her eyebrows knitted together. It was a few moments before she realized that the others were staring at her seriously. "...What?"

"Kagome, we need to know," Mom said.

"If you have come into contact with Aiko, please tell us all you know about the situation form your end," Grandpa pressed.

Kagome looked from face to face, then sighed. "Alright, but you're not going to like this." She took a deep breath. "A few weeks ago, a prophecy was made that said that Aiko possessed the very last jewel shard."

"But I thought Kohaku had the last jewel shard?" Mom asked.

Kagome shook her head. "We thought so too, but it turns out there's still one teeny tiny piece left. And it just so happens to be somewhere in Aiko's body."

"Are you sure?" Grandpa asked.

Kagome nodded. "I'm positive. Whenever I'm near her, I can just feel the presence of a shard somewhere inside her." Kagome frowned. "But unfortunately, I guess it's too small for me to tell specifically where it is." She looked back up. "So now, we're traveling around the country, visiting soothsayers and spiritual doctors and such, so that maybe they can find the jewel shard."

"Is there any way you can go get Aiko, so that her parents know not to worry?" Sota piped up.

Kagome's face fell. "I'm sorry, but once she fell through, the well wouldn't let her go back. She'd already tried."

Their shoulders slumped, and the atmosphere became notably bluer. Eventually Grandpa got up. "I better call the Jigoku-supon, they'll want to hear of this. Kagome made a sound of agreement, before silence fell once again, interrupted only by Grandpa's phone call, and his returning to sit with the others. A half hour later, when the Jigoku-supons arrived, Kagome was faced with explaining how they might never see Aiko again, to a crying mother and a stone-faced father.

0-0-0

Naraku sat waiting in the tree, staring at the moon. Being this close to the village Kikyo used to live in made him twitchy; he wanted to go wreck some havoc and destruction, maybe poke out Kaede's other eye...

A crunching of grass distracted him from his daydreams. "There you are," A familiar voice said. Naraku looked down at Aiko as she walked over to his tree and attempted the climb up. A few minutes passed before Naraku lost patience and picked her up with his tentacles, setting her down in front of him. "I wish you wouldn't do that," Aiko complained.

"I wish you weren't such a failure when it came to climbing trees," Naraku sneered in return.

Aiko hmphed. "So, how was your day?"

"My day?" Naraku repeated. "Of all the things you could ask me, you choose to question whether or not I found my day enjoyable?"

"It's important," Aiko persisted, turning to straddle the branch and face him. "It's important to keep track of all your good days, so you can have them to look back upon. And that way, if you have a lot of good days, when you have a bad day, you can be comforted with the idea that you'll probably have a good day tomorrow."

Naraku stared. "...Fine. My day was fine."

"What made it fine?"

He shrugged, looking to the side into the woods. "Nothing. It was just a peaceful day, where nobody complained."

"Do people complain often?"

"_Demons_ complain often," he corrected.

"Oh right, I guess you really are a lord, huh?"

"You doubted me?"

"Well no offense, but you do have a fairly long record among the locals for being a liar..." Naraku scowled at her. "Do you want to know how my day was?" Aiko prompted.

"I don't see how it would matter."

"Well, my day was kind of depressing," Aiko said, taking his indifferent answer as a "yes." "Kohaku left to go searching for soothsayers and hoboes to find the jewel shard, and I was reminded of how I might never get back home." She said the last part quietly, slouching and her lowering head.

Naraku stared at her. A thought occurred to him. "What's so special over there, that it made you create your mask?"

Aiko's head snapped up to glare at him. "It's my home, and that's none of your business."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Oh no?"

"No," She confirmed, sitting up straight, arms crossed. "What's you favorite animal?"


	11. Chapter 11: Hatred and Mystery

**NOTE:**

I don't own InuYasha, but I do own Aiko.

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Kagome's life, was now hell. She'd trade Naraku popping up in her era and killing everyone any day when it came to what she had to deal with now. Well, actually, that wasn't true, but she'd prefer something similar.

Everywhere she went, there was always somebody following her, be them cop, reporter, paparazzi, or paranormal enthusiast(whom she regularly had to call the cops on). While she dodged most questions, she couldn't help answering a few, if only in the hopes of making them go away. Which, of course, only made her situation even worse.

Her friends, betrayed and hurt that she'd been lying to them for months under the pretense of being deathly ill, had begun to shun her. They looked opposite her direction, didn't react if she tried to call out to them, kept a healthy distance of exactly three meters, and ignored all her attempts to send them a message. What's more, Kagome was now bullied at school. She'd find hate-notes in her locker, thumbtacks attached to her clothing, and was once outright pushed into the wall.

But worst and most guilt-inflicting of all, was when she got back home, and had to hear of how Sota was bullied for having her as a sister. Even Mom faced some ridicule on occasion at her workplace.

Kagome sat at her desk, staring at the math problems she'd scribbled in her notebook, but not really seeing them. _If only dumb Aiko didn't have the jewel shard and hadn't fallen down the well, none of this would've happened!_ she rued.

0-0-0

Aiko shivered.

"Something wrong?" Naraku asked.

"I just got the horrible impression that someone was thinking a lot of hate towards me..." she explained, rubbing at the goosebumbs on her arms.

"'Thinking a lot of hate...'" he repeated. "I must say, your eloquence with words is simply stunning."

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Don't you have anything for me besides snark?"

"_A snarky attitude_," he corrected smugly. Before Aiko could respond, a distinct buzzing reached their ears. They both turned to see a giant wasp coming towards them.

"Woah, I've never seen a bug that big..."

"It's a Saimyosho, my Saimyosho," he explained, sitting up a little straighter as the insect stopped to hover in front of him. "What are you doing here? I thought I gave distinct orders that I'm not to disturbed when conversing with the jewel shard."

"Wow, that really makes me feel like a human being with emotions and opinions..."

"Quiet."

"B'b bzzbz b'bzzz, bzz bzzzz'b bzzz bz bzbzbzzz bz bzz bzzbzz. Bzbzzbzzbz bzzzz bzz bz bzbzz bzzz bzz bzzzbzbz, b bzz bzbzz bzzz, bzz b bzzbzz bzbz-bzbzbzz Bzbzzbzbz..." the Saimyosho reported.

"Oh god..." Naraku complained distastefully. "Just, go find Byakuya and make _him_ deal with it."

"What did he say?" Aiko asked.

"The gardener planted white roses instead of red roses," he told her. She giggled, making him narrow his eyes at her. "What's so funny?"

"He he he, I'm sorry, but that makes me think about that scene in the movie _Alice in Wonderland_, where she met a bunch of card people painting white roses red because they made the same mistake, and they didn't want to get beheaded for it."

He stared at her. "First, what in the world is a movie? Second, what are card people?"

"Oh, um, a movie is like a play that's been recorded through a series of pictures, and when all those pictures are shown very quickly one after the other in sequential order it forms the illusion of movement. And sound can be recorded and played alongside the images to make it seem as though the people are talking and performing right in front of you, even though they're not really there."

"Hm, what an ingenious bit of sorcery your land as devised...and the card people?"

"The card people are characters in _Alice in Wonderland_, like playing cards come to life."

"What are playing cards?"

"They're a kind of toy I guess. Tell you what, next time Kagome goes to visit her family, I'll ask her to get me a deck of playing cards for you, and I'll show you how to play."

"Bzzz, bz bzzz bz bzz bzzz bzz bzz bzz bzzz bzzzz bzzzz? Bzzbzz bbzz, bzzzzbzzz bzzzbzz bzzz b'bzzz bzbz bzzzzzz bzzz bzzz bzz bzzz," the hell-wasp commented snidely.

"What's it say?"

"He says he doesn't like you, and that he finds the idea of me just coming out here to speak with you rather pointless," Naraku translated, arching an eyebrow at her.

"Oh is that so? Well that's a shame, because I like him," she said, reaching a hand out to the Saimyosho. The insect bobbed in the air for a second, twisting to look at his master before facing the girl again. "He's so colorful, and he's so smart and loyal. Won't you come here? I want to get a closer look at you." The bug hesitated before hovering slowly towards her hand. She curled her fingers a little, cupping the insect closer and bringing it to her face. "Ah ha, just as I suspected; bright orange eyes like a sun rise, framed by a snow-white face. It really is a pretty combination."

"Bzz bzz bzz, bzz bzzz bzz bzzz bzzz bzz bzzz bzzz bzz bzzzz?" the Saimyosho asked. Naraku _hmphed_ in humor.

"What did he say now?"

"Oh, nothing of importance," Naraku dismissed. "But you surprise me, most women recoil from insects, especially ones of such large size. But you seem rather partial to such things."

"Oh, um, it's not that," she immediately straightened up, a rosy tint coming into her cheeks. "I uh, just don't mind them." The Saimyosho quickly flew out of the way as she started to gesture wildly with her hands. "Honestly, I'm really not into them! In fact, I try to avoid them as much as possible. But since this guy here is like sentient or whatever, I thought I should be polite, cause I'm not racist. You get what I mean?"

"...I suppose."

She sighed in relief. "Good." She turned her attention back to the Saimyosho, playing with it and trying to imitate it's buzzing language.

Naraku simply stared at her. The moonlight fell in bits and pieces on her, leaving her mostly in shadow and throwing her features into sharp relief. _Now why would she get so flustered about me thinking that she liked insects?_


	12. Chapter 12: Secret's Out

**NOTE:**

I don't own InuYasha, but I do own Aiko.

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They all stood gathered around the well, waiting for Kagome's arrival. Finally with a flash of blue light the girl appeared, with two large bags strung across her shoulders.

"Kagome!" Shippo greeted.

"Hey Shippo," she called back. After a few minutes she managed to pull herself over the edge. "Here, Aiko," she panted, handing her a bulging plastic bag. "Your parents want you to have all this."

"Oh cool!" Aiko said, grabbing the bag out of her hands and looking through it. "Ah, here's my MP3, my favorite book, my Nintendo DSi...Score! Cherry Sour Bombs!" She held up the small package triumphantly.

"Well, now that we've got everything, can we get going now?" InuYasha said.

"You can just wait a few hours," Kagome snapped.

"Geez, what'd I do?" he complained.

"Not you, her," she explained, pointing at Aiko.

Aiko blinked. "Me?"

"Yes, you," she growled, standing up straight and walking towards her. "Do you have any idea what I've been through?"

"Well you see my contact with the modern world has been cut off, as of late-"

"Don't be a smart-alike! Because of you disappearing, your parents have ruined my life!"

Her eyes widened. "My parents? But, they're such nice people. They hand cookies out to the neighborhood children once every couple weeks for hell's sake!"

"What I mean is," Kagome pressed on patiently, "You disappearing worried and scared them so much that they immediately brought out every authority figure imaginable. The cops, news reporters, private investigators, paranormal experts, everyone!"

"Heh, yeah, that sounds like them," Aiko chuckled.

"Take this seriously! Because of this, now everybody knows the secret of the well! My face keeps getting plastered as the top news report on t.v, I get followed everywhere I go, and now everybody hates me for lying this entire time!"

"Oh...well, gee. That sucks." She plopped a comforting hand on Kagome's shoulder. "Don't worry, things are always better before they get worse. Or is that the other way around?"

"Ugh!" Kagome cried, swatting her hand away. "Just forget it!" With that she stalked off to the village. Aiko watched her go, then turned to see the others staring at her.

"What?" she asked. "The hell am I supposed to do? It's not like I can change what happened."

"Maybe not, but I think Kagome wanted to hear something a little more meaningful than 'that sucks,'" Sango told her. Beside her, Miroku nodded in agreement.

"Oh, whatever man!" she fumed, storming off into the woods.

0-0-0

They watched her disappear into the woods, muttering to herself. Sango sighed.

"Kagome and Aiko kind of hate each other, don't they?" Shippo observed.

"It would appear so," Miroku agreed. "But c'mon, right now it's Kagome who needs us." The others nodded in agreement before going to the village. Soon they reached Kaede's house. "Kagome, are you in here?" Miroku asked, walking inside. They spotted Kagome sitting in the corner of the room, curled up into a fetal position.

"Kagome, are you alright?" Sango asked, crouching down beside her friend and placing a comforting hand on her back.

"...Why is she such a jerk?" Kagome asked softly, so softly that Sango almost didn't catch it.

"Oh, she's not such a jerk," she tried to reason. "Sometimes, like in the evening, she can be kind of nice."

"It's true!" Shippo piped up. "One time I dropped my ball in the river, and she jumped in to get it back for me."

"The thing is Kagome," Sango said. "I don't think she knows how to express herself around us. She probably doesn't even view as friends yet. Give her some more time, I'm sure she'll warm up-"

"That doesn't answer why she's such a bitch," Kagome spat out, surprising them all with the use of the cuss word. "She's rude and cruel, she makes snide remarks about everything, takes what we're doing for her for granted, didn't even thank me for carrying that heavy back full of the junk her parents wanted her to have, she's a big fat meanie-face who doesn't even care that my life has gone to heck."

"Well..." Sango said, not really sure how to answer.

"Just go away," she told her. After a few seconds they did.

0-0-0

Kagome heard her friends leave. Even though she knew they had meant well, she was just too upset at the abrupt change in her life to care. Sitting in the shadows, a dark wish came into her heart and was whispered from her mouth. "...I wish Aiko would trip near a cliff."

0-0-0

Aiko shuddered. "Geez, someone hates my guts..." she muttered. Then she shrugged and continued walking through the woods, listening to the music on her MP3. She hummed her favorite parts of the song, completely oblivious to a shadow that stalked her. Eventually she reached the Goshinboku. "Gosh is that a big tree..." She turned and walked towards it, when something caught her peripheral vision. Turning around to look, her eyes contracted in fear and her lungs filled with air, her vocal cords tightening.

0-0-0

Suddenly, from the woods, Kagome heard a high-pitched scream. She quickly ran out of the hut, grabbing her bow and quiver. She ran out, soon meeting up with her friends as they stood at the edge of the village. "What was that?" she asked.

"We don't know-" Sango started to say, but then InuYasha gasped.

"Aiko!" he exclaimed. "She's in there!" As soon as he said that they heard another scream and saw Aiko burst out of the trees, almost tripping over herself as she turned for the village. A few seconds after a demon – a cross between a millipede and a tarantula – rushed out of the trees, twisting and screeching after her.

"_Save me!_" she screamed, heading to her friends.

"Shit!" InuYasha cursed, drawing out Tessaiga. He waited until Aiko was safely out of the way before unleashing the Windscar, just moments before they could've been struck down by the demon altogether.

Kagome looked down at Aiko, who sat on the ground, a hand over her heart and breathing heavily. "What happened?" she asked her.

Aiko looked up. "I-I was just walking along, minding my own business, when BAM! There's a giant frickin' demon chasing me, trying to eat me!"

"Hmm," Miroku said, sounding thoughtful. "It's been a while since this village was attacked by demons, hasn't it?"

"Yeah...why do you suppose that is?" Sango asked.

"Well, this is just a theory, but maybe word's gotten out that Aiko has the last jewel shard?" he suggested.

"What? But how?" Shippo asked.

Miroku shrugged. "That's just what I think. As a general rule, demons don't like coming here because we're such a formidable band of fighters. But now, I think a few would be willing to risk it, if they could get their hands on just one jewel shard."

"In other words, now I have more crap after my life," Aiko stated flatly. Miroku nodded. She groaned. "Bloody hell, my life sucks."

Kagome flexed her fist when she heard that.


	13. Chapter 13: Miroku's Counterpart

**NOTE:** I do not own InuYasha, but I do possess Aiko.

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When Naraku heard about the incident with the demon, he came to an irritating, but necessary conclusion: InuYasha and his friends were all a bunch of irresponsible morons. Quite obviously they couldn't be trusted with keeping his jewel shard safe, which is why he followed them now, his presence concealed as he moved through the shadows of the nearby forest. It's not like he cared about her or anything. He just didn't want to see anything bad happen to _his_ jewel shard. This, of course, had all sorts of repercussions. Now Byakuya was left seeing to a majority of his lordly duties, while Magatsuhi was forced to guard the girl full-time. At the very least, the Saimyosho were happy that their master had taken on the task of stalking the girl from now on.

It was worth it though. It would all be worth it in the end. As soon as they figured out how to get at the jewel, he would take it and turn everything in his favor. He just had to keep her safe until then. That was it.

-0-0-

They were unable to reach a village before sunset, so now they set up camp. Or rather, everyone else set up camp, while Aiko managed to find ways to avoid doing any work and just sit back, munching on Cherry Sour Bombs. Leaning against an old tree on the edge of the clearing, she watched as Kagome, Shippo, and Sango went out to fish and gather food, while InuYasha and Miroku set about gathering firewood and getting a fire ready. She listened to the cicadas as they one by one got out, and started playing their evening song in the just-now visible starlight. A breeze started up, playing with her hair. With the breeze, however, came a familiar smell.

"There's a hot spring nearby," she stated, recognizing it.

The two men paused from what they were doing, Miroku sniffing the air. "Hey, you're right," he confirmed.

"Well duh," InuYasha said. " I could smell it before we even stopped here."

"InuYasha, I thought you were going to get the fire ready for us." They looked up to see that Kagome, Shippo, and Sango had all returned, fishes slung over their backs and a mountain of berries in Shippo's arms.

"Can't you do anything right?" Shippo complained, shaking his head. A head which was swiftly bonked by the offended half-demon.

"Sit," Kagome said in response, creating a dust cloud with InuYasha. Snickering, Aiko yawned and stood up, stretching her back out.

"Well, I'm going to go take a bath," she told the others.

"Oh, we'll go too," Sango suggested. "We could use one as well." She then turned to Miroku. "And while we're gone, you boys can get the fire ready."

"R-right," Miroku nodded. Smirking in satisfaction, Sango tossed him her fish, and started walking to the hot spring. Kagome followed suit, and Shippo dumped his berries on InuYasha's still twitching body. Adjusting her glasses, Aiko stepped into line.

-0-0-

"Ah..." Aiko sighed softly in relaxation. "Water's so nice..."

"Yeah..." Sango agreed beside her. "But I imagine this much nicer to you than usual. Weren't you just bathing in whatever creek or river you could find before now?"

"Heh, what can I say?" Aiko shrugged.

There was a brief pause. "Well?" Kagome prompted, sitting across from her.

"Well what?" Aiko asked.

"What _can_ you say?" she pressed.

"That's was a rhetorical question," she stated.

"Yes I know, but usually people follow it up with an actual answer like, 'I just like water,' or something like that."

"But I had already said that I liked water. I'm not going to repeat myself."

"No, you said water's nice."

"Same difference."

"Ugh..." Kagome pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Say Aiko, I have a question," Shippo stated, swimming up next to her.

"Oh, and what's that?" Aiko asked.

"I've just noticed, but you actually look really good without your glasses. Kagome says that in your world, there is something called contacts, which are like glasses, only invisible, and they sit right on your eye. Why don't you wear those?" he questioned.

At first Aiko regarded him curiously, her squinting eyes widening a bit, before she closed her eyes and hmphed in humor. "I suppose...I have personal reasons," she said at last.

"What are those?" Sango asked.

"Mmmm...I think I prefer wearing glasses, because they make me feel closer to my grandfather. He passed away when I was little, you see, and we were best friends," Aiko explained.

"He sounds like a nice man," Shippo complimented.

"Yeah...he was." Aiko's smile turned sad. "He died of a heart attack."

"I'm sorry," Sango said.

Aiko shook her head, giving a comforting smile once more. "Don't be. It was a really long time ago, so I'm not sad about it anymore."

"Well that's good," Sango smiled.

"By the way, Kagome, I was wondering, what exactly is the deal with this sage guy or whatever Kohaku told us about?" Aiko asked, looking over to Kagome.

"Something about him being an accomplished super-natural doctor," Kagome told her.

Aiko nodded. "By the way, I really am sorry about that whole thing with you're going though in the present. If there was anything I could do to help, I would," she told her.

Kagome stared. "Uh...Thank you."

Aiko smiled, and leaned back against the rocks. They continued to stare at her, surprised by her shift in personality. Shippo distracted them, "Hey look, smoke, and it looks like it's coming from a pretty strong flame. They're probably done with the fire by now."

"Oh good," Sango said. She stood up and climbed out the pool. "C'mon you guys, let's go eat."

-0-0-

"Ah...that was- ep! -satisfying..." Shippo sighed, burping a little. The gang all sat around a merrily crackling fire. The remains of their meal lay strewn about, a small pile of fish bones beside InuYasha, who picked his teeth.

"Fire-cooked fish tastes surprisingly good," Aiko stated, licking her fingers. She tossed her skewer into the fire.

"Hm, well thank you," Kagome said.

"Well, since our work is obviously done here, why don't you and I go enjoy the hot spring as well, InuYasha?" Miroku suggested.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah sure," InuYasha reluctantly agreed, standing up and following Miroku through the woods. Aiko watched them go, her brown eyes blank behind the glasses.

Eventually, she stood up as well. "I have to go to the bathroom," she told them, walking in a direction adjacent to the way the men had walked.

"Oh, um, okay..." Kagome said, watching her go. _She seemed kind of strange just then..._ she thought.

0-0-0

Naraku sat in a tree, waiting for Aiko. He watched as she came into view, but then she stopped. She looked around herself, and then donned a rather evil smile, and changed directions. Naraku sat up, confused. _Wait, isn't she going to meet with me like always?_ He got to his feet, and concealed himself once more to follow her.

0-0-0

Aiko did another look around her, just to make sure that she wasn't being followed. If _anyone_ knew what she was trying to do here, her reputation would be in shambles. Before, she thought she'd be fine. She thought that her ritualistic bathing would work as a perfect substitute. But no matter how hard she tried to fight it back, she knew the urge was too strong now. The addiction had grown, entwined itself with her very being, made it impossible to do without. She simply couldn't resist it any longer- she _needed_ this kind of stimulation.

Although her parents had been thorough in supplying her with a number of her favorite things, they, of course, had no knowledge of something that really could've come in handy by this point. After all, adding to the two weeks she'd spent in the feudal era(had it really only been two weeks?), it'd been roughly three months. A three month stint where she'd tried to break herself of her addiction. At first things had been going well, great even. And then she was transported here. And had joined this group of admittedly nice, but still loony people. Under that kind of pressure, just what's a girl supposed to do?

Also, her vindictive sense of revenge against the perverted monk might've had something to do with it as well. Eventually, she reached a rather twisted, but very leafy tree she'd come across on her first trip at the hot springs. Careful to not step out from behind it, she grabbed onto the lowest branch, and started to climb it, using the various knots and dips as foot holds. Eventually reaching a decent height, she inched her way along a decently sized branch, needing a better view due to the aforementioned bushiness of the tree. Finally, she'd reached the perfect position, and peered down on the two men.

Ashamed as she was to admit it at times, she was a pervert. She blamed how mainstream hentai was these days. Now, in the presence of two freaking cute boys, she couldn't help but be curious and indulge herself. And indulging herself she was. The two sat back relaxing in the steam, their faces perfectly content. The abundance of H2O slicked their muscles, making them shine in the moonlight. InuYasha's long white hair clung to his neck, finally tamed into sleekness, his ears lowered. Miroku's ponytail hung limply, his black hair glittering. She adjusted her glasses, and rubbed her finger against one that was fogging up in the steam. Naraku could wait.

0-0-0

Naraku watched her climb onto the tree, and was soon morbidly disturbed and offended when she started to peep on InuYasha and the monk. All of a sudden, he felt _objectified_, like a piece of meat. What a strange feeling. Bristling, he sent out a tentacle, and gripped the branch she sat on.

0-0-0

Aiko had been sitting in her branch, enjoying the soft-core porn, when she heard a loud crack. The two men in the pool below started up, InuYasha asking "Did you hear that?"

Aiko looked behind her, and to her horror saw the branch she was sitting on start to break and crack. _Oh please no, please please please please don't break, please please please..._ She quickly started to crawl backwards, desperately trying to get back to the main trunk of the tree, but it was too late. With a final, condemning crack, the branch broke. With a cry of alarm she fell splashing into the water, surprising the two men. Spluttering, she stood back up, rubbing the hot water out of her eyes; her glasses had managed to slip off her nose in the fall.

"Aiko?" Miroku exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"It's, uh – cough! – a funny story, actually. Ow, fuck, my eyes..." she said. "Hey, did either of you see where my glasses went?"

"...Were you peeping on us?" InuYasha accused, his face reddening.

"What? No! No, that's disgusting, not to mention creepy! No! Good god, why would you want that man? You are so messed up. Like, seriously," Aiko instantly defended. She couldn't let herself shift into her second self, not when she needed her first self to get out of this.

"Yes, you were peeping on us," Miroku said. "You have that same guilty look on your face I get when I'm trying to explain to Sango how I wasn't peeping on her."

"No, look, even if I was peeping, which I wasn't, then you guys deserve it," Aiko argued.

"Excuse me?"

"Well it seems only fair! Why should only _men_ get to treat women with less respect than they give to each other? I should like to think that a women could return the favor when she wants to."

"So you were peeping on us!" InuYasha said.

"Goddamnit, I said no! Leave me alone!" she shouted, stamping her foot a little. "And where are my glasses?"

"Woah woah woah...calm down..." Miroku reassured, stepping closer. The water hugging his hips rippled at the movement. "There's nothing wrong." He gave her a suave smile, a smile that Aiko couldn't help but think was rather inappropriate for the current situation.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Why are you coming closer?"

"Quite obviously, InuYasha, we've completely misunderstood the poor girl," he said, casting a quick look at his friend. Without warning, he grabbed Aiko by the hand, and pulled her closer. "I'm so sorry, I had no idea that we were kindred spirits. To think, of how neglected you must feel. It's no wonder you peeped when you've been so starved."

"Where the flying fuck are you going with this?" Aiko asked, her face starting to feel a little warmer as he now stood right next to her. She didn't dare look into his face, instead choosing to focus on the muscular chest a inches away from her.

"There's no need to be shy, it's perfectly natural to be attracted to me-"

"Say what?"

"Miroku?" They all turned to see Sango, Kagome, and Shippo staring at them. Sango glared at Miroku, who quickly shrunk back in fear. "Miroku...what do you think you're doing?" she asked in a dangerous voice.

"I was just kidding Sango, I thought-" he didn't get much farther than that when Sango bonked him with her Hiraikotsu.

"Disgusting," she commented.

"Aiko, what are you doing here? You said you were going to the bathroom," Kagome asked, staring at her.

"She was peeping on us," InuYasha supplied.

"What?"

"That's a lie, and I can explain," Aiko quickly spoke.

"Then what happened?" Kagome put her hands on her hips.

She bit her lip. "It's ah well, I got lost. And then I tripped. And that's what happened."

They all stared at her. "That the lamest cover-up story I've ever heard," InuYasha said.

"Well, shut up, so's your face." Aiko climbed out of the pool, and left before anyone could say anything more on the situation. Walking through the woods, she wrapped her arms around herself, shivering as the cold air struck her wet self. "Fffffffuuuuuuuuuuuu..." she mumbled. She stepped into a small patch of moonlight, when she felt a set of tentacles wrap around her and lift her up. She jumped a little, and was soon face to face with a rather annoyed-looking Naraku. "Oh...sup?" she greeted casually, her feet dangling in the air. Naraku stayed in the shadows, leaning against the trunk of the pine tree, making it exceedingly difficult for Aiko to see him, even though she was squinting her hardest.

"Good evening," he returned. He had a very unamused look on his face. "Enjoy yourself back there? Maybe next time you won't ignore our deal simply to visually pleasure yourself."

"Ah...you, you saw all that..." she said slowly. He nodded. "Hmm. Well. This is awkward." She struggled a bit, trying to get a foot hold on the branch he was standing on. "Can you put me down now?"

"No," he stated. "I don't think I've ever seen anyone who has less respect for men than you."

"Oh la de dah. Gonna turn into a...meenimist now? God that sounded weird..."

Naraku stared. "What the hell is a menimist?"

"Think, the male version of a feminist."

"What's a feminist?"

"Never mind." She sighed, and relaxed in his hold. "Look, I'm sorry. I was bored. Alright? And where I come from, people can get very easy access to that kind of crap. It'd been a while."

"That's no excuse," Naraku scoffed.

"You're right, it's not an excuse. It's an explanation," Aiko continued, earning a scowl.

"Just don't do it again."

"Okay. I won't skip out on our meetings again. However, I claim full right to being as much of a pervert as Miroku," she said stubbornly. Naraku said nothing. All in all, he had no right to say anything more. But somehow...he felt irritated by that decision. Uncomfortably, he finally set her down on his branch in front of him. "Now..." she started, wringing out a few drops of water in her hair. "How was _your_ day?"


	14. Chapter 14: Before the Beetle's Shell

**NOTE**: I own nothing except Aiko.

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In the mid-afternoon they managed to wander upon a village, with a sizable residence visible from the top of a nearby hill. They wandered around, first inquiring the local townsfolk about the house before anything else.

"I don't know about the old man, but I know his wife is pretty superstitious," a young woman with long black hair hidden under a bandana told Miroku.

Miroku nodded in satisfaction. "I see. Thank you for telling me this. As a second favor..." He took her hand into his own, and stared deeply into her eyes. "Would you do me the honor of bearing my childre-EEIN!" He suddenly yelped, jumping back and moving his hand to his now stinging bottom.

"Hmm, nice and firm," Aiko complimented, giving Miroku a little wink as she walked past him. Miroku stared after her.

"Unconventional though it may be, you gotta admit, her methods are having a better effect than you ever did, Sango," Shippo commented, sitting on the demon slayer's shoulder as they walked past the monk, following Aiko.

"You got that right," Sango agreed.

"This is so messed up..." InuYasha complained, he and Kagome falling in line.

"H-hey! Wait for me!" Miroku called weakly after them, running after them, the woman left behind feeling completely bewildered and confused.

0-0-0

He narrowed his eyes at the monk,and then at Aiko. Why did she have to annoy him like that? She knew it bothered him to act in such a manner. But as to why exactly it bothered him, not even he could say for sure. It just...did. With a sigh he got up from his position on the roof of a store. Rubbing at his neck briefly, he followed them. Keeping constant vigilance was proving wearisome.

-0-0-

"Alright guys, I'm going out for a ba...alk. A walk," Aiko quickly edited her usual lie, stepping outside of the house after finishing her meal.

"You want me to come with you?" Sango asked, starting to get up.

"No no, it's fine, I can take care of myself," Aiko quickly told her.

She gave her a worried look. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Trust me." Without waiting for further argument, she quickly walked off the grounds, and once out of sight, started heading for the woods. One thing that she really liked about feudal Japan was the convenience of good meeting places for somewhat questionable cohorts being pretty much everywhere. The sun set when she reached the edge of the forest, and soon the night painted all the trees and plants in shades of silver and blue. She stepped over a few rocks, and behind her, a shadow did the same.

0-0-0

He sensed it before she could even come near him, and sat up from his spot in the tree. Narrowing his eyes, he quickly leapt in Aiko's direction. Stopping in the tree just in front of her, he spotted the little demon that stalked her.

_What a fool, to try and attack my jewel shard like that,_ Naraku thought, sending out a tentacle and crushing it.

"Woah!" Aiko jumped. Naraku quickly grabbed her and lifted her up to him. "Jesus man, the hell was that? You trying to kill me?" she asked indignantly, adjusted her moon-lit glasses.

"There was a bug," he told her.

She blinked, then furrowed her brows at him. "Well geez, you didn't have to kill it! What'd the bug ever do to you? It was probably just derping along, minding it's one business. What if it had a family, eh? It probably had dreams, damn it!"

He stared at her. Somehow the lie had backfired on him. "...You're sticking up for an insect?"

"Well sure, why not?"

He arched an eyebrow at her, then brought her closer to glare into her eyes. "You know, it's been bothering me for a while, but why do you have such an infatuation with insects?"

"Okay infatuation is a bit far-"

"Answer the question."

She huffed and crossed her arms, turning her nose up at him. "I don't want to."

He stared. "...Did you just say _no_ to me?"

"Yeah. What're ya' gonna do about it? Come at me, bro!" Aiko challenged, giving him a fierce look.

_Oh that is it._ He suddenly released his hold on. She gave a small yelp of surprise, shock crossing her features. Just before she could hit the ground though, Naraku leapt down to the ground and caught her. Her glasses slipped down her nose, and a bit of her hair came loose from her short tail, joining the rest of her hair at her shoulders. "Now unless you want to try that again at a greater height and less of a chance of me catching you, I suggest you pay me better respect," he told her. She gave a meek little nod.

He leapt back up into the tree, and set her down next to him. "Now tell me. Why are you so different from other women? Most would've been glad that there was one less insect in the world."

She sighed, not making eye contact. "I don't like to talk about it," she told him, sitting down and drawing her knees up to rest her chin against.

"Tell me," he ordered, sitting down as well.

She shot him a quick glare before looking out once more at the foliage around them. "...Well, I suppose this all roots back to my grandfather. He was actually an entomologist. I spent a lot of time with him as a child. This was before my dad got his promotion at work, and both my parents had jobs. They couldn't afford a daycare, so they just had my grandfather take care of me. Not that I minded, we always had a lot of fun together. I just got so used to bugs, he kept all kinds in his house, that it's never really bothered me."

"I see..." Naraku said, looking up at the moon. "That makes sense. Familiarity breeds contentment." Aiko nodded in agreement. But then, another question prodded his mind. "Why were you insecure about telling me that?"

Her fist clenched. "Because apparently, girls aren't _supposed_ to like bugs. Apparently, they're supposed to find them icky and squeal, so that some big strong boy could come and squish it for them." She took off her glasses and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Listen, it's kind of complicated. I really don't like talking about my childhood..."

"You think you're the only one? My human life wasn't sunshine and flowers either," he commented without thinking. Aiko looked over at him, and he quickly looked away.

"Right, you were a bandit, huh? What led up to that?" she asked, leaning forward a bit to try and peer into his face. He pushed her away.

"Nothing," he spat. "I just ended up being a bandit. End of story."

"Who's insecure about whose past now?"

"Shut up. Tell me the rest of your story."

Aiko rolled her eyes. "Basically, my familiarity with insects caused a few problems to arise when I started going to school. I had some pet spiders back then, and I brought one with me to school. I kind of, sort of, showed him off to my friends, and...well, things didn't end well. You'd think I'd learn from the fiasco _that_ caused, but no. Whenever we were outside and spotted a beetle, or if a moth or flying insect of some description had managed to find its way into the classroom, I couldn't resist picking it up and playing with it. The fact that I used to wear full-moon glasses didn't help either. Eventually I got the nickname Bug-Girl, and was swiftly the target of isolation and many a disparaging rumor/bully incident."

"You were bullied?"

"Yeah. Until 4th grade, when I wouldn't take their crap anymore. What happened was, I was eating lunch, a nearby girl and her friends made the comment that they were surprised to see I wasn't eating bugs, and I kind of lost it at that. Basically, I stood up, walked over to her, and bitch-punched the hoe out of her chair into her friend. I got a week's worth of detention and three days suspension for it, but it was worth it. I decided from then on that I had to be strong, that I had to be just as vicious as the people around me. And you know what? It totally fucking worked. I got people to back off, and finally managed to make some friends again. I never really bothered with bugs again."

"Hmm." It was the only reply Naraku could think of.

Aiko scoffed. "You're such a ninny. Now at any rate, what's your deal? Don't tell me you were bullied too," she teased, fixing her glasses back into place.

He rolled his eyes. "Of course not. And I'm not telling you."

"Oh come on, I deserve to know. I told you my emo, sad, tragedy-filled past. I deserve to know your melodrama."

"...Maybe next time," he dodged.

"Fine." She shoved him a bit. He shoved her back, nearly knocking her out of the tree. "Though, we can do without the falling jazz..."


	15. Chapter 15: Free Stylin' Millipedes

**NOTE: **I don't own InuYasha, but I do own Aiko.

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They were sitting at a traveler's stop, eating lunch, Aiko playing a game on her DSi, when they overheard the cook and his wife sharing some gossip.

"Hey, did you hear about that millipede demon over by Goto town?"

"I heard. Just terrible really, nearly the entire village dead. Where have all the demon hunters gone?"

"Survivors say that it was in an unnatural rage. Something must of set off."

"Aye, that would make sense. Strange stories have been floating around lately..."

"Well what do you guys think?" Sango asked, looking over at the others.

"Think about what?" InuYasha replied through mouthfuls of food.

"We should go help them," Kagome said.

"No way," InuYasha argued. "I don't wanna take any detours. Plus, going there would be just begging for trouble."

"InuYasha, surely we can spare just a little of our time to slay that demon," Miroku said persuasively. InuYasha _hmphed_. "Besides, what if that millipede moves on to the village with the pair of fortune-tellers?"

"C'mon guys, there's a demon that needs slaughtering!" InuYasha cried, leaping up and dashing off.

"InuYasha, wait!" Kagome called after him, the others quickly gathering their things and following. All except Aiko, whom Shippo paused before.

"Aiko?" he asked.

She didn't respond.

"Hey, Aiko!"

"Wha?" She finally looked up.

"C'mon," he told her, running after the others.

She gave them all a bewildered look, quickly saving her game and grabbing her stuff. "H-hey! Hang on you guys! Douches, don't leave me behind!"

0-0-0

_How dumb can InuYasha and his lot be?_ Naraku thought, flexing his jaw. Who cares if there's a millipede running around? So what if there was a possibility of the fortune-tellers getting hurt and or killed? If his jewel shard was damaged, then there'd be no point anyways. And he certainly wasn't about to let _that_ happen. Dusting himself off, he followed close behind. He had to make sure his jewel shard wouldn't get hurt, since Inu-Fool was too stupid to do so himself.

0-0-0

"Hiraikotsu!" Sango yelled out, throwing out her boomerang. The surprisingly agile demon managed to wiggle out of the way of the attack.

"So close," Aiko commented, sitting with Shippo a good distance away from the action.

"C'mon you guys, you can do it!" Shippo cheered.

"Unless of course you all suck, which you kind of are right now..." Aiko yelled. Shippo glared at her, and she shrugged.

"InuYasha!" Kagome called. A look of understanding, and she fired her sacred arrow, InuYasha launching his Wind Scar. The pink and gold light fused, and hit the mark, splitting the millipede in half. The two halves fell on the ground, sending up large clouds of dust.

"Woo hoo, you did it!" Shippo cheered.

"Hey if that attack was always an option, why didn't you do it right away?" Aiko asked when they were near.

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Let's just go." Aiko smirked, falling into step with the others at the back of the pack. It was always nice to have little distractions like watching an epic battle first...

She'd heard it as a series of clicking noises behind her, and InuYasha and Shippo had stilled. Everything either seemed to go into slow motion, or she went into hyper-drive. She turned around, her glasses slipping down her nose in the process. There, rushing towards her, were the two millipede halves, regenerated into two smaller millipedes. One was closer to her than the other, and looked like it was about to attack. Around her she could sense shouting, some form of commotion. But right now, all Aiko could see was the millipede rearing back, ready to strike...

She reacted.

She immediately dropped backwards, letting gravity flex her spine to the extreme as the millipede's attack whooshed just above her. Catching herself on her hand, she quickly kick-spun herself out of the way of a second attack. She then flipped herself back onto her feet, moon-walking back a few more steps just as Miroku leapt in front of her, throwing out a few Sutras. The two demons, much weaker than their previous form, screeched from the severe holy burns they received. Muttering a quick prayer under his breath, he sliced their heads off with his staff, and they promptly disintegrated. They stood around for a few moments, Aiko panting a little as the weight of what almost happened settled on her, her heart racing.

"Millipede demon with regenerative powers. Uncommon, but not unheard of," he said quietly. "Nice foot work there, by the way," he complimented, turning to Aiko. "Reminds me of when we first met." He placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Heh, well you know. Break-dancing's like riding a bike. So long as you have the energy for it, you never forget how to free style." Aiko brushed his hand off.

"Kagome, what happened? I told you to shoot the things," InuYasha asked.

The reincarnated priestess in question looked very shaken up. "I-I don't know what happened, it's like my arrow got caught on a loose thread or something..." she said.

"Well geez, maybe you should check your equipment before going into battle," Aiko chastised her. "What a careless mistake. Be more thoughtful next time."

Kagome bit her lip, but said nothing.

0-0-0

Naraku relaxed, collapsing back onto his tree branch. He closed his eyes, focusing on easing up his heart rate and breathing. That had been much too close. While he'd hesitated a little, if it hadn't been for his jewel shard's fast reflexes and the monk leaping out, then he would've wasted no time at all at releasing a cloud of miasma and leaping out to grab his jewel shard. He was glad it hadn't had to come to that. He hated having to do any dirty work, and was comfortable in the shadows, however tiring protecting his jewel shard was proving to be. When he opened his eyes, the fools and his jewel shard were already quite far down the road. Sighing, he got up to follow them.


	16. Chapter 16: Denial

**NOTE:** I don't own InuYasha, but I do own Aiko.

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Byakuya descended the stairs, down to the basement, a steaming bowl of rice in his hand. He rubbed at his neck, groaning at the stiffness. With Naraku now gone nearly 24-7, the duties of maintaining his lands and keeping order had fallen onto him. He sighed, wishing only to to find the time to vent his frustrations on some unsuspecting humans. Presently, as he got closer to the cell where the girl was kept, he could hear the sounds of a conversation. Or rather, it sounded more like Magatsuhi was saying something, and that the girl was whining or something like that. Looking up, he paused for a second at the curious sight. Magatsuhi had his floating face pressed up against the bars, and the poor girl was curled up into a ball, pressing her hands as hard as she could against her ears.

"That's 752 to 3," Magatsuhi seemed to tease. "Come now, you'll have to try harder than that. Next one: Ripped from my mother's womb, beaten and burned, I become a bloodthirsty killer; what am I?"

"I don't know! Stop asking me all these riddles!" Rin cried out, pulling on her hair in frustration. Then she spotted Byakuya. "Please, please make him stop! He's been asking me riddles for days, and it's driving me crazy!"

"That's enough Magatsuhi," Byakuya reprimanded. "Float away, and ask someone else your riddles." Magatsuhi hissed at him, floating backwards through the wall and out of sight. Byakuya shook his head, sitting down in front of the cell and pushing the girl's lunch through the bars. "Honestly, I'm surprised you haven't killed yourself by now."

"It's not so bad," Rin reasoned, picking up a large chunk of rice and shoving it into her mouth. "I just miss having you as my guard. You're a lot more quiet, and a bit kinder than the other one."

"My apologies," Byakuya said sarcastically. "I've been rather distracted with work at the moment."

"Why's that?" she immediately asked, that inquisitive nature of hers showing up once again.

Byakuya rolled his eyes. "Because Lord Naraku is busy running errands these days, and can't be bothered to do the paperwork on his desk until nighttime. That's where I come in, and take care of it all for him."

"Why is Naraku busy with field work these days?"

"Bah, it's part of some deal he made with that stupid wench who has the last jewel shard."

"Oh right, the prophecy," she remembered, nodding in understanding. Then she gave Byakuya a curious look. "So, what's the deal?"

"Just that if he visits her on a nightly basis, then she'll give him the jewel shard, once they find out where exactly it is on her."

"Hmm...Naraku didn't used to spend this much time away just for this before though, right?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Maybe something interesting happened between them, to make Naraku want to spend more time with her?" Rin suggested, chewing on her chopsticks thoughtfully. "You don't think he's developed a crush on her, do you?"

Byakuya laughed. "Now that's just silly, only something a human girl could dream up of! Hahahahaha!"

"Why's it silly?" she asked indignantly, her cheeks turning pink.

"Because, silly human child, Naraku could never love a human. He's a powerful demon lord, the only kind of person he could ever be interested in is a demon princess. And that's if he ever decides he wants a wife. Humans disgust him, he'd sooner rip apart his own heart than marry one."

"Lord Jaken tells me that Lord Sesshomaru hates humans, but that I'm an exception, and that he actually goes to great lengths to keep me safe and happy," Rin stated. Byakuya shut up, staring. "And I've been told that Naraku was once a human bandit named Onigumo, who lusted after a human priestess. And isn't he still just half-demon?"

Byakuya chewed on his tongue, a sense of unease settling in the pit of his stomach at her words. "That's...not applicable to this situation. Naraku has gone to great lengths to get rid of his human half, he's more demon now than human."

"Didn't Lord Sesshomaru's father love a human woman, too? And that's how InuYasha came to be?" The girl peered at him from over her bowl. "I've heard adults complain that love was a complicated thing. Maybe this is one of those complications?..."

Byakuya stood up, and quickly walked out of the dungeon. As he climbed the stairs, he spotted Magatsuhi, lingering around. "Magatsuhi, take care of the paperwork on Naraku's desk."

"Who'll watch the girl?" he asked.

"I don't know, one of the other servants. Figure something out," he told him, rushing past.

"Where are you going?" he called after him.

"To see our master," he replied, grabbing his gourd and summoning his paper crane._ Just to make sure. Just to make sure..._

-0-0-

Zeroing in on the crowd of misfits, Byakuya slipped into the woods, guessing that Naraku must be close by to them. Sure enough, there was the demon lord himself, giving him a cold glare from his tree.

"Byakuya, what are you doing here?" he asked sharply in a low voice.

"Oh, I'm just...checking up on you," Byakuya told him.

Naraku stared at him. "You're lying," he stated. "Why are you really here?"

Byakuya sighed. "Okay, look, this is pretty silly, but I was talking to that human girl, and she's under the impression that you have a crush on the jewel shard wench."

"What?!"

"I know, that's why I'm here, to prove a point," Byakuya continued.

"How could I possibly be attracted to that irritating human bitch? She's not even my type, let alone not being a demon!"

"Right, exactly," he encouraged.

"I mean, she's so small, almost like a child, but much too clever to actually be one. And she's so flat-chested," Naraku continued, seemingly going off on a rant. "She dresses in the strangest way, not at all like a girl should dress."

"Completely inappropriate."

"And her dark brown hair is really much too short, so that it's hard to notice that when it's wet, it looks black and shines purple in the moonlight. I mean, it has the potential to be curly, and obviously it's very soft and nice-smelling, but of course she seems to want to be a man. Completely unattractive."

Byakuya blinked. "I...suppose, if you're not into that kind of thing."

"And she's much too tan for my tastes, like a peach or something. Rosy cheeked, and smelling of fruit."

"...Um..."

"And those abnormally sized eyes of hers are simply creepy. Whenever I look into them, it's like all I can see it that plain, boring color of brown laced with bright green, ominously sparkling, even when they really shouldn't be able to."

"..."

"She's disgusting in every way, shape, and form, from her spit-fire, self-empowering personality, to her rock hard determination and stomach. Did I mention I don't really like firm bodies? Because I don't."

Byakuya gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "Well, so long as you don't let your disgust for her interfere with your plans."

"Of course not. Now go back to the castle," Naraku ordered, leaping off after the girl, following in the shadows of the trees.

Byakuya stood back and watched for a few minutes. "...Yeah, we're all kind of doomed, aren't we?"


	17. Chapter 17: Lying Soulmates

**NOTE:** I own nothing except Aiko.

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They stood at the base of a hill, looking up at a decent little home perched on the top, beyond the trees.

"I guess we're not going to find a place to stay first?" Aiko asked, adjusting her glasses.

"There aren't any towns nearby here, so there's hardly any point," Miroku replied.

Aiko sighed. "Fine, let's just get this over with." She started walking up the hill, and the others fell into step with her. She glanced over her shoulder at them with a grimace. "I suppose there's nothing better to do, other than wait here?"

"Not really," InuYasha replied, picking at his ear. "What's the problem anyways? Afraid of a crowd?"

Aiko rolled her eyes, and promptly leaned back into him, knocking InuYasha off-balance. "Carry me," she ordered.

"What?! Why should I?"

"If you're going to accompany me, you can't be doing nothing," she told him. "I won't move another step unless someone carries me, princess style."

"Okay look, you little-"

"InuYasha!" Sango interrupted. "Just do it."

Muttering to himself, InuYasha did as he was told, and picked the stubborn girl up.

"Good boy," Aiko told him, petting his head.

"Shut the fuck up," he growled, moving forward.

Aiko looked over InuYasha's shoulder at Kagome, and gave her a little wink.

0-0-0

It took Kagome a few moments to be able to move. Currently, all she could do was stare at the sight of InuYasha carrying that bitch bridal style, her heart pounding in rage from the smug wink she sent her way.

"Kagome, your eye's twitching," Shippo informed her.

Snapping out of it, Kagome forced one foot in front of the other, and followed the others up the hill.

0-0-0

At the top, InuYasha set Aiko down. "Thanks honey," Aiko said, kissing her two fingers and placing them on his mouth for a second. InuYasha growled, his ears lowering and his face reddening. Aiko smirked, and turned to knock on the door. A few seconds later it slid open to reveal a young woman wearing a blue kimono.

"Yes, can I help you?" she inquired politely.

"Are you the fortune-telling moron who lives here?" Aiko asked.

The woman started to close the door, but Miroku quickly stuck his staff in its way. "What she means is, we are in need of your prophetic abilities, m'lady," he tried to smooth over.

"What do you want?" she asked impatiently.

"There's a sacred jewel shard somewhere in our friend here, and we were hoping you could help us find it," Sango explained.

"You don't know where it is?" she questioned.

"Well we know where it isn't, and that's inside my head," Aiko said dully.

The woman looked them all over before sighing and stepping back to let them in. "Fine, come in, come in. I'll go get my brother. I'm Chihiro, by the way." She led them down the hall into a small sitting room. "I'll be right back. I think my brother's in the kitchen." She disappeared back out of the room.

"I do wish you could display a bit more tact," Miroku chastised.

"Please, that's like asking a pig to look pretty," Kagome instantly replied. The others all turned to stare at her.

"Kagome, is something wrong?" Shippo asked.

"Oh, no, I'm sorry Aiko, I don't know where that came from," Kagome apologized.

Aiko blinked at her before frowning, her eyebrows lowering. "Hmph, maybe our little priestess isn't as pure as we all think. Do you look down on your comrades often, Kagome?"

"Ya' know, no offense, but you tend to treat me like a dog, Kagome," InuYasha piped up.

"My point exactly," Aiko stated, crossing her arms and sitting up straight, her eyes closed.

Just at that moment, Chihiro walked back in, along with a man in pink who looked remarkable similar to her. "This is my twin brother, Haku."

He gave them a little bow. "Chihiro tells me you've got a jewel shard stored in your body?"

"Yes, we're trying to find it," Sango agreed.

"Alright then," Haku said, kneeling down in front of Aiko. Chihiro kneeled down next to him. "Let me see your hands."

"And let me see your feet," Chihiro added.

"Why?" Aiko asked.

"We're palm and foot readers," Haku answered. Aiko gave them a strange look, but eventually took off her socks(she'd slipped her shoes off at the door) and held out all four appendages to the readers.

"Wow, soft hands. Do you use oil?" he asked, taking her hands.

"Um...not really," Aiko said, feeling kind of awkward. "I just drink a lot of water."

"Her feet are soft too, but strong from much walking," Chihiro commented. The pair continued to look over her hands and feet, making little comments here and there about the things they apparently saw in the little lines.

"Well, there doesn't seem to be any abnormal disruptions in your hands, so I doubt the shard's there..." Haku reported after a few minutes. "However, right here in these fingers," he traced her right index finger and middle finger, "are some little swirls, like the kind one develops when they've been committing unwholesome deeds."

"And here, too," Chihiro spoke up, poking at the pad of her left foot. "While there's certainly no magic, are the lines of a traitor."

Aiko felt her breath catch in her lungs, but she kept a straight face.

"How dare you?" Sango snapped, glaring at the two readers. "How dare you accuse Aiko of being a traitorous villian?"

"We didn't say that, it's just her hands-" Haku started to say.

"We're leaving," Miroku interrupted, standing up. "There's no need for us to stay any longer, especially when it seems we're not wanted." He grabbed Aiko by the arm and hoisted her up. She grabbed her socks and hobbled along with him, trying to pull them on, the others following suit. Shippo picked up her shoes for her.

"What about our money?" Chihiro asked.

Miroku tossed a small bag of money at her, then slammed the door behind them all.

"Well that could've gone better," Aiko commented, struggling to maintain her balance while she tied her shoes, hopping on one leg.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that, you showed an amazing amount of patience back there," Sango apologized. Aiko stopped hopping to stare at her. "If that was me, I would've blown up at being called a liar."

"Oh, well...it's no big deal. I've been called worse," Aiko said slowly, standing up straight.

"There's a difference between being called a jerk and a liar, though," Shippo said.

"We're your friends Aiko, and we'll defend you no matter what," Miroku said, smiling at her.

"Oh...cool," Aiko thanked, her stomach feeling a little queasy.

0-0-0

From a distance, Naraku narrowed his eyes at Aiko. Even if her face was neutral, he knew exactly how humans tended to be when their companions say things like that to them. With her good nature, there was no doubt she was feeling guilty about her deal. She was probably even thinking about how to get out of it, and tell her friends. Not that it would work though. Even if she betrayed him, he would just kidnap her. And then she would pay for breaking their deal. His crimson eyes glittered in the afternoon light as he melded back into the shadows.

-0-0-

After dinner, Aiko had managed to convince the others that she'd be fine on her own for a few minutes, and was now walking through the woods, hoping to run into Naraku at some point. Her hands were in her pockets, and she had her eyes cast down at the forest floor as she walked. The cold blue moonlight spotlighted, the wind ruffling the leaves. There was almost zero sound in the forest that night, the cicadas showing great restraint with their nightly song. Aiko shivered, despite her jacket, and rubbed at the goosebumps on her arms. Finally she looked up through a gap at the trees, staring at the starry sky, stretches of cloud shielding some of their celestial light from her.

"Maybe this isn't such a good idea..." she said softly.

"Going somewhere?" a cruel voice whispered from behind, and a set of familiar, yet this time brutal tentacles seized her and pulled her away into the shadows.

0-0-0

His tentacles writhing and twisting around her unchecked, Naraku lifted her up into his tree, turning her around and holding her in front of him for inspection.

"N-Naraku! Stop it, this kind of hurts!" Aiko complained, grimacing when one of the slimy appendages coiled around her neck.

"Don't think you can fool me," Naraku sneered. "I saw you earlier, when you left the soothsayers."

Aiko stopped struggling, and looked up at him with a slightly worried look. "You were spying on me?"

"Running away will do you nothing, remember? Despite what your worthless friends might say, they have yet to defeat me, or stop me from committing any of the crimes I have done. You belong to me, jewel shard."

"Naraku...I..."

He could hear the hesitation in her voice as she no doubt tried to conjure her next lie. A lie to soothe him, and set her free. But he wouldn't listen. _I will never fall for her tricks. Liars like her can never be trusted. If I let her go, then she'll tell her friends, and run away. But I won't let her, she's mine, she's mine. I was promised the jewel shard, and I will stop at nothing to get it. It's mine it's mine it's mine it's mine it's mine she's mine she's mine she's mine she's mine she's mine she's mine she's mi-_

"Naraku, I often find our meetings more comfortable when I'm allowed to sit next to you, not be lifted in the air in front of you," a snippy voice interrupted his thoughts.

"What?"

"Put me down Naraku, so we can talk," Aiko ordered, giving him a gentle smile. He stared. Slowly, uncertainly, he sat her down in front of him, his tentacles loosening their hold and slithering back into his body, one by one. She rubbed at her wrists briefly, then looked up. "Naraku, I'm not sure what sort of experience you've had with various business partners in the past, but horrible person that I am, I value my own happiness far more than anyone else's, and nothing's going to change that."

He blinked, the gave her a cynical look. "Oh really?"

She nodded. "I've learned to look out for number one. This one time, when my friend was accused of cheating when she let me look at her paper for a test, I left her hanging and she got a detention. I made up for it later by taking her out to dinner, but hopefully you can see what kind of person I am from that example?"

The look of cynicism had faded away to be replaced with curiosity. "Are you...really that dishonest of a person?" Inside he knew he shouldn't trust her, but the action sounded so much like something she might do.

"It's not like I'm dishonest, I just know how to take care of myself. I felt bad, but hey, I didn't want to get in trouble too. Where's the sense in that?"

"...Yes. That's exactly how I think. Except for the feeling guilty part. The fool should have been more discreet with her actions. It's her own fault for getting caught."

"Hmph, guess we're kindred spirits then," Aiko said, smirking at him. "Do you trust me now?"

A few minutes passed, the leaves whispering to each other, gossiping over the wind's soft song. The moon was looking elsewhere, her beams blocked by the dense foliage which hung over the two being's heads. The cicadas became a bit more brave, their song becoming more noticeable.

"...Yes," Naraku said slowly, a small smile teasing the corner of his mouth.

"Great. So anyway, breakfast was nasty today..." Aiko switched topics, continuing on to talk about her day. Naraku sat and listened, offering little bits and pieces on his day. They talked the night away, until the moon was directly overhead and it was time for her to go. The entire time, a single series of thoughts kept replaying at the back of his head.

_She's not so bad. She's okay. She's like me._


	18. Chapter 18: The Millipedes Strike Back

**NOTE:** I own nothing except Aiko.

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With the sun sinking, they wandered into a nearby town. For some reason, many of the villagers stopped to look at them, whispering to each other. Aiko stared right back, a shrewd look on her face.

"Geez, what's with these people? You'd think they'd never seen travelers before," Aiko commented.

"For once, I agree with you," Kagome said. "The way they're looking at us is kind of abnormal, even by our standards."

Aiko scoffed. "Typical. Figures you guys would draw attention like a transsexual transvestite from Transylvania."

"A what?" Shippo asked.

"A bunch of street performers," Aiko substituted.

"Excuse me." An old man approached them, tugging on Sango's sleeve. "But, could you people be the demon slayers who took care of that millipede demon, a while back?" The gang was collectively startled, Shippo and Kagome giving each other surprised looks.

"Why, yes, we are," Miroku spoke up.

"Oh, thank you so much! We were so pleased to hear that you kind people had slain it, especially after it destroyed our sister village Goto," he told them.

"Yeah, you guys are heroes!" A young boy spoke up.

"If you need a place to stay, we'd be happy to accommodate you all," a young woman offered. All around them people clamored, giving praise and offering ways to repay them for the kind service.

"Well, looks like our karma's finally paying off," Aiko said, smirking.

"It always does," Miroku agreed.

"If you'd like, you all can stay at my inn," a middle-aged woman told them.

"We'd be happy to sleep in your finest room with a full meal and drinks," Miroku replied.

"Miroku, don't be rude," Sango chastised, elbowing him.

"What's rude about it Sango? He's just accepting their kind offer," Aiko joked.

"Yeah, let's be humble, and eat their nice fresh food," InuYasha said.

"InuYasha, don't encourage them," Kagome said.

"Relax, we're just trying to have some fun," he argued.

"Yeah, don't you remember what fun is, darling?" Aiko joined in. "I say, get wasted while you can, and if your liver quits as a result, at least you died having fun. Presumably. You could be so shitfaced that you don't even know what you're doing in your final moments. That would kind of suck, but would also be kind of hilarious."

"If you'll all come with me," the innkeeper finally interjected. She started leading them away, gesturing down an alley, across which they could see an inn. Grinning at the others, Aiko stepped forward, Miroku close behind, followed by InuYasha, Sango, Shippo, and Kagome, in that order. The setting sun cast long shadows over all of them, and was somewhat blocked by the roof of the inn. Already the cicadas could be heard chirping from all sides.

On either side of the entrance, two identical looking servants bowed to them. "We hope you enjoy your stay," they said in unison. The inner decor consisted of earthy tones, and tasteful wood furniture.

"This inn is lovely," Kagome commented.

"Thank you. While you're all here, you can call me Arisu," the innkeeper told them, leading them down a hall. "This is your room. Sorry, I can't really offer much more space for non-paying customers. I do still have a business to run, you know." She slid the door open, revealing a spacious room. There was a small table, two rolls neatly packed into the corner, and a small chest of drawers. There was even a painting of flowers on the wall. A partially open back door led outside, and across the yard, Aiko could see the forest. They all filed into the room, admiring it.

"We'll bring you all some more bed rolls, and a screen to divide up the room," Arisu told them.

"Thank you so much," Sango said.

Arisu gave them another bow. "Dinner will be brought in shortly. Please let me know if there's anything else you need."

"Actually, some entertainment, from the local girls, would be-" Miroku started to say, but Sango swiftly bonked him on the head, shutting him up.

"We won't be needing anything, thanks for asking," Sango said firmly. Arisu nodded, and left. "Geez, Miroku, haven't you learned to control yourself by now?"

"Seriously man, aren't we entertainment enough, Miroku-kun?" Aiko teased, placing a hand on his hip.

"Oh, of course, Ai-chan, how could I be so heartless?" Miroku returned, placing his hand on her butt. "I should have realized when you were crying out for attention from me. Can you ever forgive me?"

"Hmm...Maybe, Miroku-bo," Aiko returned, placing her other hand on his chest and pushing his robe open slightly.

"If the you're done being a slut, Aiko, would you get off Sango's fiancee?" Kagome spoke up.

Aiko looked at Kagome for a moment before smirking and backing off. "Chill your tits, Kagome. It's all fun and games. Sango knows I'm not seriously trying to move in on her man. It's just a joke, lighten up."

"And you really didn't have to call her a slut," Shippo piped up. Kagome merely made a sound in her throat that was somewhere between contempt and humility.

"I forgive you, Bitch-cunt," Aiko replied, smiling.

-0-0-

The dinner had been almost unnaturally delicious. All the flavors had been perfectly blended, and everything complemented each other. There had been plenty to go around, and they all ate their fill. And then they brought in some sake for them to enjoy after the meal. Even though Kagome had tried to keep Shippo from drinking, Aiko slipped him her glass when Kagome wasn't looking. By Shippo's third shot, however, she'd been found out, and banished to sitting outside.

Her toes brushed the ground, the night air fluttering around her. The moon shone down on her glasses, sending little spots of light on the grass. She stared into the forest, almost sensing Naraku waiting for her. She sighed, and thought _Well, I might as well go now._

"Hey, Aiko," she heard Miroku say, interrupting her plans to go for her nightly walk. Looking around, she saw the monk sit down next to her. "What's up?" he asked.

"You should know, we've only been living together for a while now," she told him. She took a sip of her sake. It was really well-made stuff, taking more of a toll on her than the drink usually did. "What makes you ask?"

"I just sort of heard you sigh, and thought there might be something troubling you," he said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Yeah, well, I'm fine. There's nothing to worry about." Maybe it was just the lateness of the hour, but Aiko's eyelids felt rather heavy.

"...You know you can tell me anything, right?" He gave her a very serious look. "The same goes for Sango, and all the others. We're here for you, if you need a shoulder to lean on."

Aiko chuckled. "Thanks, but I see what you're doing. I know you just want my hot body pressed up against...you..." she yawned.

"Are you tired?" he asked. His eyes were half-closed in a lazy sort of way.

"Yeah..." Aiko breathed. "But it's kind of strange...alcohol doesn't make me sleepy, normally..."

"What'd... you say?" Miroku asked, his voice sounding a bit more tired than usual.

"I...said..." Her words trailed off, and she started to slump forward, her eyes closing. In the back of her mind, it occurred to her that there may have been more than spices in the food.


	19. Chapter 19: The Final Straw

**NOTE:** I own nothing except Aiko.

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Naraku sat impatiently in his tree, drumming his fingers against his arm. Snarling slightly in frustration he stood up, glaring in the direction that the inn was. Granted, she was a ridiculously slow human, but even she should have been able to reach him by now. _What's taking her so long?_ He leapt from tree to tree, heading back. The wind shifted, and suddenly a rather strange smell struck his nose. He paused, sniffing at it. The village...wasn't there anymore? He doubled his pace, a mere blur of darkness against the trees as he moved. It was only a matter of seconds until he reached the edge of the forest, where the inn rested. Except instead of the inn, there was now an enormous mound of dirt, through giant millipedes crawled in and out. Naraku stared at the change in scenery, his mind blank for a few moments before it put the pieces together.

Somewhere, deep inside his conscious, there was a dainty little, frayed string.

It snapped.

0-0-0

The millipede demons carried their unconscious prey deeper and deeper down the burrow. This had been their most elaborate trap yet, an effort on the entire village's part. The fact that they were able to hide their true forms so completely, even from the monk and the Inu demon, was a testament to their dedication.

"Bring the humans down this way, to the royal kitchens," Arisu. "The chief will want that monk on a silver platter."

"Of course," Yumi said.

"I imagine he'll be wanting this one as an appetizer?" Yuki said, jostling the little brunette. The pieces of glass she'd been wearing earlier had slipped off her face when she'd collapsed, and were now most likely buried under a pile of dirt.

"That small thing? I doubt he'll even want her as a snack!" Arisu said with contempt. "She'll probably be fed to the heir. Serves them all right for slaying one of our greatest warriors."

"Man, I'm still full from that feast he provided us with," Yuki sighed.

"We all knew Goto was populous, but what they didn't tell you was that everybody in Goto was plump and fat!" Yumi snickered.

"Will you two stop talking? You're giving me a headache," Arisu clicked at them. The twins were about to apologize, when they heard screaming from above.

"What the...?" Yuki murmured. Suddenly there were small sounds of explosions and cave ins to accompany the screaming, and the sound of rushing feet. They looked up the tunnel, and saw a whole swarm of their brethren rushing down the tunnel on all sides, all screaming and panicking.

"Run for your lives! We're under attack!" One screamed as he rushed by.

"Woah, woah, woah! Hold on!" Arisu cried, and grabbed one of them, pinning them down. "What do you think you're doing? What's happening?!"

"A- A monstrous demon! He's attacking us! All of our guards are no match, they're all being torn to shreds! He's destroying us all, and filling the tunnels with poison gas! We're all gonna die, we're all gonna-" Arisu slapped her before she could start screaming.

"Calm down, you ninny! Who's attacking us? What did he look like?" she questioned.

"He, he had a human face, but he was anything but. He had long black, wavy hair, and eyes like blood. He wore fearsome armor, and all these other limbs kept shooting out of him to kill us with!" She was wriggling without restraint now, and Arisu let her go and join the crowd in their massive fleeing.

"Sound like anyone you know, Arisu?" Yumi asked, her antennae twitching at her.

"Run as fast as you can, get the humans down to the royal kitchen," Arisu ordered. "Unless I'm much mistaken, I believe the demon attacking us is none other than Lord Naraku himself."

"Lord Naraku? What's he doing here?" Yuki asked.

"How the hell should I know, just go!" Arisu snapped, smacking him with her many forelegs. Without another word they joined the flow of the crowd, soon disappearing from sight. Arisu turned back towards the upper levels, and clacked her mincers in determination before forging a path through the crowd to get up.

0-0-0

Naraku walked down the tunnels, corpses of millipede warriors raining on either side of him. They came at him constantly, seemingly without end, but he paid them no mind. The versatility of his body at full potential, he laid waste to them all, up churning the tunnel and exposing great sections of it to the surface as he went. With every step he took, he released his miasma, which flowed before him, and killed many before they even had a chance to fight him.

He barely reacted though. Always staring straight ahead, his crimson eyes wide in frozen anger and the rest of his face unreadable, he walked on, trusting his nose. How could he have been so easily fooled? Not only had his jewel shard been usurped from right under his nose, but his reputation had been shattered. Judging by the screaming, Naraku guessed that he was getting close to the heart of the underground village, and where they'd taken his precious jewel.

"Naraku!" he heard his name called, and looked up out of habit. Down the tunnel, he could see a particularly massive millipede charging towards him. No doubt of a higher rank than the weaklings that he'd been shredding. Not that it would make much of a difference. He launched his spiny tentacles at it, but the shrewd little thing managed to dodge, bending and weaving around. It resisted his miasma, and was now merely feet away from him. Naraku caught it by the mouth, stopping it in its tracks. It clamped its mandibles down on his arm, actually drawing blood.

Naraku dug its claws into it, and pulled it closer so he could in its eyes. "Get out of my way," he said softly, and he ripped it in half, all the way down the middle. With the mandibles gone, he briefly spent a moment of his energy on healing the minor wound of his arm, and continued on his way. _One can't help but wonder why they're even bothering to put up a fight..._ Truly, it didn't take him much longer until he reached an area where all the millipedes seemed to be crowding A look around told him that they had all tried to leave through the various offshoots at once, and all had gotten stuck as a result, and clogged everything up. His eyes zeroed in on two millipedes upon whose backs seemed to be InuYasha and his worthless friends. And Aiko.

He shot his tentacles all the way out across the room, and grabbed her by the leg. He lifted her up in the air, over all the millipedes that tried to leap up and snatch her, and placed her in his arms. She'd lost her glasses, and for all the commotion going on around her, she was asleep. So peaceful, with her mouth hanging open a little, through which she emitted tiny snores. Adjusting her slightly, he turned and started walking back out of the tunnels. A few millipedes tried to stop him, and take Aiko back, but they all met the same fate the others had.

As soon as he reached a section of destroyed tunnel which reached out to the sky. Naraku leapt up into the air, floating. Glancing once at the moon, he turned in the direction of his castle, and flew towards it.

He'd had enough.


	20. Chapter 20: An Unexpected Turn of Events

**NOTE:** Now I know some of you have been excited at the prospect of Aiko spending the remainder of the story at Naraku's castle...

But dearies, I so love to tease you all. 8D

As always, the only thing I own is Aiko.

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Aiko felt warm, but also comfortably cool. Her head was leaning against something soft, though the middle of her body was pressed against something uncomfortable hard. Then, she felt a blinding light strike her eyes, and she winced. Squinting, she opened her eyes. A blinding sunrise was taking place, its light just now managing to peak over the mountains. The sky was a bright orange, and everything on Earth was cast into sharp relief. She groaned and turned her head away almost as soon as she opened her eyes, pressing it into the cushy sleeve.

"Damn it, close the fucking blinds or something, will ya'?" Aiko grumbled, not really thinking.

"Just bear with it for a little while. We'll be home soon," she heard a familiar voice tell her. Her eyes snapped wide open, and she jerked back in surprise. "Don't move around like that," Naraku admonished.

Bewildered, Aiko looked up at him, squinting hard to bring him into focus. In a corner of her mind, she noted how he'd made a pieces of his armor disappear so as not to cause her a great deal of discomfort. She looked around, and saw that Naraku was flying, carrying them both through the air. Her glasses, shoes, and bag were all missing. "I- Naraku, what, how... What the fuck?!" she asked.

"Language, Aiko," he chastised. "I will not tolerate such a foul-mouth under my roof."

She spluttered, her mind racing to figure out how precisely she ended up in such a predicament. "But, but, we had a deal!"

"I am altering the deal. Pray I don't alter it any further."

"..._Star Wars_?"

"What?" Naraku stared at her.

"Never mind. It's just, what you said, reminded me of this movie franchise called _Star Wars_," she explained. "Anyway, Naraku, you can't do this! I thought you were some degree of honorable, and didn't break the deals you make!"

Naraku faltered a little at the stab at his honor. But then he pressed on, his face more set than ever. "What matters to me is the jewel shard," he said coldly. "You were unconscious, so I don't expect you to be fully aware of it, but those worthless fools got you all captured by a clan of millipede demons. The pitiful weaklings, you're lucky I was nearby. If you'd died, I'd never would've been able to recover the jewel shard."

Aiko's face fell a little, and her chest felt chilly. She stopped squinting, not wanting to look at him in detail, and see the harsh expression on his face. _He really wants that jewel shard, huh? _Before he could look back down at her, she'd already put her bravest face back on. "Naraku, grateful though I am for saving my life, I don't think you've thought this through," she started to argue. "I mean, really. How are we gonna find the jewel shard, if I'm not going cross-country with the traveling circus back there?"

"What's a circus?" 

"Not important. My point is, I think you're jumping the gun a bit here. Also, they're all gonna think I was kidnapped, and when they smell your scent, they're gonna raise hell trying to get to me."

"They haven't been able to find my castle yet."

"Bullshit they haven't, have you forgotten that they've told me all about you? And they've only been telling me more as time has past. They've been at your place dozens of times."

"They only ever reached it because I allowed them to," he growled.

"And that time when you were on your period?"

He abruptly stopped, and glared down at her, fire in his crimson eyes. "That, is none of your concern," he said through gritted fangs.

Aiko glared right back, squinting again. "Take me back, Naraku. I won't cooperate with you unless you give me my freedom. And there's nothing you can do about it. You can't kill me, you can't hurt me, and according to what I've been told about that still dubious prophecy, you can't even be mean to me." She felt his grip on her tighten, his claws digging into her flesh and drawing blood. She grit her teeth against it, and kept her expression in place. She would not show weakness in front of him. "Face it, _Lord_, I'm running the show here."

For a long while, he was quiet, looking daggers at her. Then, he glanced down at the ground below them. He flashed her a wicked smile so wide, Aiko didn't have to squint to see it. She moved her head back away from him slightly, arching an eyebrow.

"Yes, I suppose I really have no choice but to obey, don't I?" Naraku agreed in an incredibly polite voice. "I'll let you go." With that, his hold on her suddenly released, and Aiko found her limbs scrambling for something to hold on to. She dropped like a stone, and stared up in shock at Naraku, smirking above her. Just when she realized that he wasn't going to catch her, her back smacked against something hard, and water rushed in all over her. She sank down, all the way until she felt some underwater plants tickled her back. At first disoriented at the shift in environment, she quickly kicked her way back to the surface.

Spluttering and coughing, she looked around, and spotted the shore a good 50 feet away from her. She swam for it, and dragged herself onto the lake's bank. Breathing heavily, she noticed a pair of booted feet standing before her. She looked up to see Naraku grinning down at her. "You...you fuckass..." she cursed. "That was one hell of a gamble you took, I must say. Suppose I drowned?"

"Oh quiet, you wouldn't have drowned," he replied, examining his nails, his eyes half-lidded. "You're a great swimmer. I've seen you swim against the current of rivers, no problem."

"Yeah, well...wait, how do _you_ know that?"

He froze, his face wiped blank. "I... Come now, Aiko. I'd be fairly useless if I didn't know such things about you."

"Have you been **spying** on me while a bathe?!" Aiko asked, getting up.

"What a bold accusation!" Naraku snapped. "To insinuate I have the slightest interest in you-"

"Oh my god, you're a fucking pervert!"

He slapped her. "You're the pervert here! How pitiful, I suppose you must always feel there's at least one other pervert in your company, just so you may feel justified? That's probably why you like the monk so much."

"Ugh, you know what, I don't even care anymore." She pushed past him, her left cheek turning red from the strike. "I'll fucking see you later, asshat."

"I await with the greatest displeasure," she heard him call after her. She flipped him off over her shoulder.

0-0-0

Miroku had been the first to come to. In the face of being cooked for a millipede lord, he acted fast, and woke the others. Luckily for them, apparently the millipede burrow had been ravaged by someone else in their absence, making their escape remarkably easier. However, things were complicated once they realized that Aiko was missing. Things became further convoluted once InuYasha picked up Naraku's scent.

"Ugh, it must've been a trap set by Naraku from the very start! He's kidnapped Aiko!" Sango excalimed.

"He must've been in collaboration with the millipedes," Miroku added.

"Well what are we waiting for? We've gotta hurry!" InuYasha shouted. Nodding, Kagome hopped on his back, and they all started running in the direction that Naraku had been going before flying away.

0-0-0

Aiko shivered, stumbling around in the woods. Those cuts Naraku had left her turned out to be deeper than expected, and they ended up draining her of a fair amount of energy. On top of all that, without her glasses, she was having trouble navigating, and kept tripping over roots and rocks, making her feet bleed and hurt.

"Tch, it's lonely at the top, huh?" she muttered sarcastically to herself. Just then, while she was talking, she barely managed to hear a low growl. She stopped, cocking her ear towards it. Now that she listened, she could hear multiple growls, and various other sounds behind her. Looking over her shoulder, she saw multiple pairs of eyes staring back out at her. Then, one by one, shadows stepped out into the light, silhouettes resembling the shape of wolves. Down on the ground, Aiko saw a dainty little blood trail, dripping from her sleeves and her pants legs. Furthermore, there were a few bloody footprints from her unprotected feet.

"Oh shit," Aiko whispered before turning and fleeing. Behind her, she heard one of the wolves howl, and give chase. She ran as fast as she could, squinting her eyes as hard as possible in the hopes it would better her chances of survival. She imagined she could feel the wolves' hot breath right at her back, snapping at her legs, but she didn't dare turn around to look.

"Oh god, _please! Someone help me!_" Inevitably, she tripped. Looking quickly over her shoulder, she saw the wolves advance. Tears in her eyes, she covered her head, and wished that it would be quick.

But it never came.

A loud squeal made her open her eyes again, and when she turned to look again, she saw none other than Sesshomaru staring the wolves down, one of the wolves dead at his feet. They growled at him, but evidently could sense when they were outmatched, and turned tail and ran.

"My god...Lord Sesshomaru...I, I can't tell you how happy I am to see you!" she said, stumbling onto her feet.

"Hmph, you're lucky Lord Sesshomaru happened to be nearby, fence-sitter!" Jaken said, coming up, A-Un close behind him.

Sesshomaru turned back around to face her, and walked closer. He leaned over her, sniffing. "Uh...what are you doing?" Aiko asked.

Sesshomaru stood back up, and narrowed his eyes at her. "You smell of Naraku," he said.

Aiko's breath hitched, and she remembered just how well-tuned a demon's senses were. "Um... yeah. That, would be because... I had a run-in with him," she said, quickly trying to come up with a believable lie. Though, it was sort of true. "And...I just barely managed to escape. And then wolves. And then you."

"Oh really? And just how did a human girl like you manage to outmaneuver someone like Naraku?" Jaken inquired.

"Well, I didn't get out without sustaining some injuries, as you can see," Aiko said, gesturing to her wounds.

"Why weren't you with InuYasha and his friends?" he pressed.

"Naraku kidnapped me, but I managed to fend him off and lose him. And now, I could use you guys' help in finding my way back to the others," she dismissed, changing subjects.

"And why on Earth should Sesshomaru help a tramp like you?" he sneered.

"Look, InuYasha and his friends are all gonna find me anyways. You might as well make it easier on yourselves, and meet them halfway. That way, I'll be out of your hair all the faster."

"Better yet, we could be rid of you right now! In fact-" Jaken started to rant.

"In which direction was Naraku heading?" Sesshomarru asked, interrupting his servant.

"Huh? Oh, he was like...flying north, I think? That's where he said his castle was," Aiko told them. She felt a little uneasy giving away such information. "But, you know, I don't really know. Didn't really get much of a chance to catch my coordinates while trying to run away, you know?"

"Hm." Sesshomaru turned back around, and started walking down the blood trail that Aiko left. "InuYasha is in the Southwest. Turn a little to the right, and just keep going in the direction you were," he informed her.

"Oh, uh, thank you," Aiko said. Hesitating, she requested, "And, uh, would one of you be so kind as to escort me? It's just, you saw what happened with the wolves, and I-"

"Now you're really pushing it, girl! How demanding of you, to-" Jaken started to yell.

"You can borrow A-Un, if you wish," Sesshomaru offered.

"Oh, Master, you're so generous today!" Jaken praised. He then glared at Aiko. "Now, don't you try to steal A-Un, or else!" He then ran after Sesshomaru, falling in step behind him.

Aiko smiled, watching them go, then turned to the beast and climbed on. "Uh...InuYasha? Can you take me to him?" The beast seemed to understand her, and took off, flying in the air. Tense at first, Aiko soon relaxed, enjoying the scenery, and starting to get used to flying without being in a plane. _Sesshomaru's so cool,_ she thought to herself. _He's nice, and listens to what I have to say. Much better company than Naraku, I dare say._ She sat up, and looked over in the direction that she'd left InuYasha's brother in. _I hope we can meet again soon, in better circumstances._

0-0-0

From the devastation of his home, a lone half-demon millipede crawled out. His mother had been a proper demon, and kept him close to her. Despite how all the other demons had teased him for his weak, human blood, he'd still had a few friends here and there.

But no longer.

He ground his teeth together, his mandibles clacking at the scene before him. He remembered quite vividly overhearing the intruders, and when spying on them, recognized InuYasha from the rumors he'd heard.

_This Aiko... She must be the one who possesses the last jewel shard,_ he quickly deduced. _I swear, I will seek vengeance upon them all, and take the jewel shard for myself._ Crawling out into the sunlight, he looked over in the direction where it was said that Yumi the Demon Oracle lived.


	21. Chapter 21: Reunited

**NOTE:** I own nothing but Aiko.

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Aiko could feel her joints turning stiff, and her eyes felt tired from having to stare at a blurry mess for so long.

"Jeez, how far could Naraku have taken me?" she grumbled.

"Hey, Aiko!" she heard a voice call, and she looked over her shoulder to its source. Riding towards her, she saw none other than Kohaku on Kilala. "Hey, Aiko, what are you doing?" he greeted.

"Morning, Kohaku," Aiko replied. "I'm just trying to catch up with InuYasha and the others. Sesshomaru was kind enough to lend me his cow, or whatever the hell this thing is."

Kohaku stared at her. "That's... really weird. Why are you having to borrow A-Un in the first place?"

"Naraku tried to kidnap me."

"He _what?!_"

"Calm your tits." Aiko tucked some particularly irritating strands of hair behind her ear. "I got away, no sweat. I don't even know why you guys bitch about him, the man's a total pussy."

He gave her a sidelong gaze. "...We better reunite you with my sister and her friends soon. It's making me nervous for you to be exposed like this."

"Oh pish posh, we're- ah, speak of the devil." A-Un had started descending, and looking down at the ground Aiko could see a clearing in the forest where InuYasha and the others were located. "Hey, you lazy bums! Guess what you all failed to do?!"

"Aiko!" All except Kagome exclaimed, looking up.

"Hey, Sango!" Kohaku greeted, Kilala flying close behind A-Un. They both landed on the ground, Kohaku immediately jumping off and running to his sister.

"Kohaku!" Sango caught him, squeezing him in a tight hug. "It's so good to see you! And Kilala! I hope you've both been well?"

"Well enough," he replied with a smile. Kilala transformed to her smaller form and meowed affectionately.

With some difficulty, Aiko managed to fall off of A-Un. With its rider dismounted, A-Un gave a snort and flew back off in the sky to return to its master. Aiko waved after it. "Aiko, are you okay?" she heard Shippo say behind her.

"I don't know, you tell me." She turned, exposing the wounded arm and leg. For good measure she held up her uninjured leg so they could see the bloodied sole. "I have to say, you guys are doing a pretty shitty job of protecting me."

"We're sorry Aiko, we're not really entirely sure of what happened," Miroku apologized. "The most we can gather was the whole inn was a trap set by Naraku to capture you."

Aiko almost opened her mouth to say no and set the record straight, but thought better of it. "Well, you fucknuts should just be grateful that I was able to escape him on my own. Also, did any of you manage to recover my glasses, per chance?"

"No, but I was able to recover our stuff. Maybe your parents left you something to help with your eyes in the bag?" Kagome suggested, holding Aiko's bag out to her. Aiko snatched it and started rifling through the cluttered mess of items.

"No...no...shit, that's definitely not it...damn...well, at least there's this piece of shit." She pulled out a glasses case.

"Alright, so your parents thought ahead enough to pack a spare," she cheered.

"No, you dipshit, these aren't spare glasses," she corrected, her irritation growing with each headache inducing second. "My glasses are expensive as fuck. They don't have that kind of dough to just toss around. These are just a pair of crappy stand-in glasses. The most they do is clear my sight enough so that I don't have to squint as much." She took them out of their case, and slipped them onto her nose. They slid down slightly, not at all measured to fit her. They even weighed differently from her glasses. "Things are still blurry, but fuck it."

"Well you don't have to get pissy with me." Kagome's shoulders had tensed, and her hands were clenched into fists.

"Oh _do_ pardon me, _your highness._ I'm just a teensy bit cranky from being kidnapped and chased by wolves in a single night." Aiko curtseyed for emphasis.

"Wait, wolves?" InuYasha asked.

"Long story, I'll explain later."

"I think we all have some explanations to exchange," Sango said wearily. "C'mon, let's go have some breakfast, bandage you, and we can talk everything over."

"Finally, a sensible idea is presented." She tried to push her glasses back up on her nose. They slid back down a few seconds later. Sango turned and lead the way, and they all followed after her. Kagome lingered in the back, making small noises in her throat.


	22. Chapter 22: The Other Way

**NOTE:** I own nothing except Aiko.

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The fire crackled merrily, spitting sparks into the mid-morning air. They all sat around it, enjoying the warmth both it and the sun provided. Bandages were wrapped around Aiko's arm and leg and feet. She'd had to change out of her ripped clothes, and was now wearing a pink spaghetti top and shorts, along with a pair of army boots. Her parents knew her so well.

She munched noisily on her fish, listening to Kohaku give the others his report. She'd already finished her story, and was satisfied to see that they all had swallowed it.

"So, you really think this witch doctor will be able to help?" Sango asked.

"He's almost legendary in the north." Kohaku nodded. "He specializes in heart and chest medicine. He's been able to make people live longer with the spells he can cast on your heart."

"Cool, immortality, awesome, but how does that help me?" Aiko pointed out through her food.

"For all you know, the jewel shard could be caught in your bloodstream along with all that plaque you undoubtedly have," Kagome commented.

Aiko snorted. "Alright, I admit, that was kind of clever."

"We'd better get a move on, soon," Miroku said. "The more quickly we can find the jewel shard, the safer it'll be for all involved, and the more of a chance we'll have at defeating Naraku."

"Geez, it feels like we're just running back and forth here," InuYasha complained.

"Well, on the bright side, at least we'll be able to make a stop at the village to resupply," Shippo said.

"Ugh, I'm not looking forward to that," Kagome said tiredly.

"Don't be such a pussy. I'm sure people have lost interest by now," Aiko told her. Kagome rolled her eyes. Once they'd finished their meal, they set off back north.

0-0-0

The half-millipede demon had made good progress in his journey. Millipede demons were notorious for their speed, and he was merely a few seconds slower. He'd heard the rumors about the girl. He'd heard about how supposedly the only way to get the jewel shard was to be nice to Aiko. _But that doesn't make sense._ If she has it, then truly it should only be a matter of stealing it off her person. Surely all he'd have to do is dismember her, and search her corpse. And he would, if not for her murderous friends.

No, what he needed was information, so that a more concise attack could be pulled off. It would have to be fast, so he'd be in and out with the jewel shard in hand. There had to be more to getting it than simply being polite. On the horizon, he could already see the mountain which possessed the cave that housed Yumi. He picked up the pace, his eyes narrowing, the gears in his head turning. _Why would it ever matter if I was nice? What does that have to do with the turning over of ownership of items? It implies that she must be alive in order to receive the jewel shard. But I don't understand it._

A stray thought skittered across his mind, prompting a theory, but he quickly dismissed it. If it was that, then taking the jewel shard would only be too easy. If it was that, then even the simplest of beasts could take it. If it was that, then she truly had no power at all.

0-0-0

After their fight, it felt a little strange to Naraku to be sitting up in a tree, close to where they had set up camp for the night. No doubt the conversation for tonight would prove...awkward, to say the least. _It's not my fault she's so stubborn,_ he thought. Sighing, he gazed up through the leaves of the tree to the starry sky.

There was a crunching of grass from beneath, and he looked back down. Sure enough, there was Aiko, standing there and squinting up at him. She was wearing scandalously different clothes than before, and there were...bandages? Naraku narrowed his eyes, and lifted her up into the tree beside him.

"Sup, faggot. It's been a while, hasn't it?" Aiko greeted. Naraku didn't reply, studying the gauze.

"...Those wounds aren't because of me, are they?" he asked.

"Golly gee wiz Naraku, it's almost like I'm a fuck-mothering human who can't deal with demon claws," she replied, pressing her index fingers into her cheeks to mimic dimples.

"I hadn't realized I was gripping so hard."

"Learn your own strength." She rolled her eyes, and leaned back onto her arms. "They're not so bad anyways. Kagome says they'll heal in a couple weeks." He didn't respond. There was an odd feeling in his gut. He sighed, and looked away. "So, you should probably know, we're heading north now."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Kohaku says there's some witch doctor. We're gonna have him check my upper torso, since it's apparently his specialty. It's pretty much one of the only places left where the jewel shard could be."

"Hm." Silence. Night birds chirped nearby, and the moon was briefly hidden behind a cloud. "...I hope you recover quickly."

"Pardon?" She sat back up, looking into his eyes.

"I'm not repeating myself."

"...You're apologizing, aren't you?"

He didn't reply, shifting slightly in his seat. Apologize didn't seem like the right word. He was a ruthless demon lord. Demon lords don't apologize. Right?

Aiko smirked, an endearing look on her face. "So, how are things on your side?"


End file.
